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HANDBOUND 
AT  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
TORONTO  PRESS 


•••*>  • 


310? 


.Tcmrn-Andiropolog.  Jngt.,Vol.33fn..Pl.l. 


MED  I  T.E  H 

Alexandria 


SO     Longitude       £ast     33       of       Greenytdclt       36 


SKETCH  MAP  SHEWING  DISTRIBUTION  OFTRIBES  NORTH  OF  KHARTUM 


THE 


OF   THE 


^ANTHROPOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE 


.OF 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND. 


VOL.    XVII. 


LONDON: 

PUBLISHED   FOR 

je  Anthropological  Institute  of  (ireat  Britain  anb  |«Ianir, 

n 
TRUBNER  &  CO.,  57  &  59,  LUDGATE  HILL. 

All  Rights  Reserved. 
1888. 


B1S048 


LONDON  : 

HARBISON  AND  SONS,  PRINTERS  IN  ORDINARY  TO  HKB  MAJESTT, 
ST.  MARTIN'S  LANE. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

I.     On  the  Tribes  of  the  Nile  Valley,  North  of  Khartum.     By 
Sir  CHAELES  W.  WILSON,  K.C.B.,   K.C.M.G.,  D.C.L., 

F.K.S 3 

II.     On  the  Functional  Topography  of  the  Brain.     By  Professor 

D.  FEBBIEB,  M.D.,  F.R.S.     (Abstract) 26 

III.  Description   of    the   Cerebral    Hemispheres   of    an   Adult 

Australian  Male.  By  H.  D.  ROLLESTON,  B.A.,  Scholar 
of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  Junior  Demonstrator  of 
Phj  siology  in  the  University  . .  . .  . .  . .  32 

IV.  On  a  Fossil  Human  Skull  from  Lagoa  Santa,  Brazil.     By 

SOBEN  HANSEN.     (Abstract)  . .          43 

V.     Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen.     By  A.  L.  LEWIS,  F.C.A., 

M.A.I 44 

VI.     On  Palaeolithic  Implements  from  the  Drift  Gravels  of  the 

•    Singrauli  Basin,  South  Mirzapore.     By  J.  COCKBUEN  . .          57 
VII.     Notes  on  Stone  Implements  from  Perak.     By   ABBAHAM 

HALE  . .         66 

7111.     The  Migrations  of  the  Eskimo  Indicated  by  their  Progress 
in  Completing  the  Kayak  Implements.    By  Dr.  H.  RINK. 
(Communicated  by  Dr.  Robert  Brown)     . .          . .          . .          68 

IX.     Notes  on  the  Natives  of  the  Polynesian  Islands.  By  COTTTTS 

TEOTTEB       . .         . .         . .         . .         . .          . .         . .         75 

X.     Stone  Spinning  Tops  from  Torres  Strait,  New  Guinea.     By 

C.  H.  READ,  F.S.A 85 

XI.     Notes  on  Natives  of  the  Solomon  Islands.     By  Lieutenant 

F.  ELTON,  R.N 90 

XII.     Trephining  in  the  Neolithic  Period.     By  VICTOE  HOESLEY, 

B.S.,  F.R.S.  (Abstract)        100 

XIII.  Comparison  between  the  Recuperative  Bodily  Power  of  Man 
in  a  Rude  and  in  a  Highly  Civilised  State  ;  Illustrative  of 
the  Probable  Recuperative  Capacity  of  Men  of  the  Stone 
Age  in  Europe.  By  Dr.  GEOBGE  HABLEY,  F.R.S.,  Ex- 
Professor  in  University  College,  London  . .  . .  . .  108 


IV  CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

XIV.     On    the    Evidence   for    Mr.    McLennan's   Theory  of   the 

Primitive  Human  Horde.     By  G.  L.  GOMMB      ..          ..        118 
XV.    Hittite  Ethnology.     By  Captain  C.  E.  CONDEB,  RE.        . .       137 

XVI.    The  Guanchos.     By  HENBY  WALLACE        158 

XVII.     On  an  Ancient  British  Settlement  Excavated  near  Rush- 
more,  Salisbury.  By  Lieut.-General  PlTT-EiTEES,  D.C.L., 

F.E.S.,  F.S.A.,  F.G.S 190 

XVIII.     On  the  Stature  of  the  Older  Eaces  of  England,  as  Estimated 

from  the  Long  Bones.     By  JOHN  BBDDOB,  M.D.,  F.E.S.       202 
XIX.    The  Lower  Congo ;    a  Sociological  Study.    By  BICHAHD 

COBDEN  PHILLIPS 214 

XX.     The  Origin  and  Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.     By  Canon 

ISAAC  TAYLOE,  LL.D.,  Litt.D. 238 

XXI.     The  Maori  and  the  Moa.     By  EDWABD  TBEGEAB,  F.E.G.S.       292 
XXII.     On  the  Shell  Money  of  New  Britain.  By  the  Eev.  BENJAMIN 

DANES  . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .       305 

XXIII.  On  Tattooing.    By  Miss  A.  W.  BUCKLAND 318 

XXIV.  On  the  Evolution  of  a  Characteristic  Pattern  on  the  Shafts 

of    Arrows    from    the    Solomon    Islands.     By    HENRY 
BALFOUB,  M.A.,  F.Z.S.,  Assistant  to  the  Curator  of  the 
Pitt-Eivers  Museum  at  Oxford      . .          . .          . .          . .        328 

XXV.     On   the    Occurrence   of    Stone    Mortars    in    the    Ancient 
(Pliocene  ?)  Eiver  Gravels  of  Butte  County,  California. 

By  SYDNEY  B.  J.  SKERTCHLY,  F.G.S.,  M.A.I 332 

Annual  General  Meeting         . .          . .          . .          . .          ...       . .          . .        338 

Address  delivered  at  the  Anniversary  Meeting  of  the  Anthropological 
Institute  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  January  24th,  1888.  By 
FEANCIS  GALTON,  F.E.S.,  President . .  . .  346 


CONTENTS.  V 
ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MISCELLANEA. 

PAGE 

Lectures  on  Anthropology   . .          . .          . .         . .          . .                    ...  79 

British  Association  Meeting. .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  79 

Archaeological  Meeting          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  80 

Chinese  Superstition ..          ..          ..          ..          ..          ..          ..          ..  80 

Address  to  the  Anthropological  Section  of  the  British  Association  at 

Manchester.    By  Prof.  A.  H.  SAYCE,  M.A.,  President  of  the  Section  166 
On  the  Notes  sounded  by  Mr.  Gallon's  Whistles  for  testing  the  Limit  of 

Audibility  of  Sound.    By  W.  N.  SHAW,  M.A 181 

Note  on  the  Dieyerie  Tribe  of  South  Australia.     By  SAMUEL  GABON. 

(Communicated  by  J.  G.  FBAZEB,  M.A.)      . .          . .          . .          . .  185 

Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology — Smithsonian  In- 
stitution, Washington,  1886.     [Review]        . . 187 

The  Primitive  Human  Horde           276 

Sketch  of  Aniwa  Grammar.     By  SIDNEY  H.  KAY            . .          . .          . .  282 

Racial  Photographs  from  the  Egyptian  Monuments         . .          . .          . .  289 

The  Races  of  India 289 

The  Primitive  Human  Horde           . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  356 

Statistics  bearing  upon  the  Average  and  Typical  Student  in  Amherst 
College,  March,  1888.   By  Dr.  E.  HITCHCOCK,  assisted  by  Dr.  H.  H. 

SEELYE      . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .  357 

Distribution  of  Indian  Tribes  in  North  America    . .          . .          . .          . .  358 

The  late  Mr.  McLennan  360 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATES. 

I.  Sketch     map      showing     distribution      of    Tribes    North    of 

Khartum..          ..          ..          ..          ..          ..          ..     Frontispiece. 

II.  Brain  of  Adult  Australian  Male      ..          ..          ..          ..      to  face  p.  32 

III.  Sketches  and  Plans  of  "  Altar  Stones  "  in  Scotch  Circles  (Aber- 
deen District)      . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  55 

IY.  Spinning  Tops 89 

Y.  Map  of  the  Lower  Congo      . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .         214 

VI.  Map  illustrating  the  distribution  of  Tattooing       . .          . .          . .          327 

VII.  A  series  of  reed  shafts  of  arrows  from  the  Solomon  Islands        . .          329 
VIII.  Sketch  section  from  the  Sacramento  River  to  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
through  Spring  Valley  Gold  Mine,  showing  the  geological 
position  in  which  stone  mortars  are  found      . .          . .          . .          333 


Vi         •  CONTENTS. 

WOODCUTS. 

PACK 

Diagram  of  Brain,  showing    how  an  increase  in  the  visual  or  in  the 

auditory  sense  might  change  the  shape  of  the  skull. .          . .  29 

Section  of  right  bank  of  the  Belliah  Nadi,  opposite  Hinoutee    . .          . .  62 


Corrigenda.  vii. 


CORRIGENDA. 

Owing  to  Canon  Taylor's  absence  from  England  he  had  no 
opportunity  of  revising  the  proofs  of  his  paper  on  "  The  Origin 
and  Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans,"  in  the  February  number  of 
the  Journal. 

The  following  misprints  should  be  corrected: — 

Page  240,  note  2,,  for  '  fiuk-ta,"  read  "fiuh-ta." 


243,  line 

10,  for 

'  that  directed,"  read  "directed  that." 

243,     „ 

41,  for 

'man,"  read  "race." 

245,     „ 

14,  for 

'lime,"  read  "  line." 

249,     „ 

12,  for 

'  Ayran,"  read  ''Aryan." 

251,     „ 

25,  for  ' 

'  Aestisei,"  read  "  Aestui." 

253,     „ 

8,  for  " 

Kultur-worten"  read  "  Kultur-worter." 

253,     „ 

43,  for  ' 

'  race,"  read  '•  first." 

253,     „ 

4A,for  ' 

'  first,"  read  "  race." 

254,     „ 

2,  before  "Aryan,"  insert  "developed." 

255,      , 

6,  for  " 

verbal,"  read  "  verbal  root." 

255,      , 

15,  before  "  lug,"  insert  "  the  root." 

255,      , 

30,  for  ' 

'  i-OTrj-iii,"  read  "  'i-arri-fju." 

255,      , 

43,  for  ' 

'  orginated,"  read  "  originated." 

259,      , 

14,  for  ' 

'  Finnische."  read  "  Finnischen." 

259,  No. 

1,  for  " 

cock"  read  "crake." 

259,     „ 

2,  for" 

hals,"  read  "  hag." 

259,     „ 

2A,for 

'  cace"  read  •'  cacc." 

259,     „ 

3,  for  " 

hestitate,"  read  "hesitate." 

259,     „ 

4,  for  « 

hut,"  read  "  German  hut." 

259,     „ 

4,  for  " 

33-34,"  read  "  33-44." 

260,     „ 

6,  for  " 

cataya,"  read  "qataya;"  &nd.for  "  late,"  read  "  kale." 

260,     „ 

7,  'for  « 

gemo"  read  "  canto." 

260,     „ 

8  far  " 

cup"  read  "  cap." 

260,     „ 

9,  for  " 

KoitTio"  read  "  /ca/iirrw." 

260,     ,. 

9,  for  " 

Keltic  cam,  bent,"  read  "  Lithuanian  Jcampas,  crooked  ; 

Greek  /CO//ITIJ." 
260,     „     10,  for   "  Lithuanian    kampas,   crooked ;   Greek   Kafnirrj"  read 

"  Keltic  cam,  bent." 

2fiO,     „     10,  for  "combe,  /tump,  kink ;"  read  "  hem  •" 
260,     „     11,  for  " family  race,"  read  "family,  race." 
260,     „     12,  for  "make  work,"  read  "make,  work,"  and  for  '"'carve," 

read  "  Sanskrit  har-man,  work." 

260,  „     14>,for  "  coracle,"  read  "  carol." 

261,  „     17,  for   "garden,  hortui,"   read   "circus;"  and  for  "  ^oprof, 

\op6e,"  read  "  /ct'proc,  Krpi'/cot;." 
261,     ,,     18,  for  "  turn,"  read  "  burn." 
261,     „     19,ybr  "call,"  read  "  calends." 
261,     ,,     2 1,  for  "  command,"  read  "  commend." 
201,     „     22,  for  "  KAB,"  read  "KAS." 

261,  „     23,  for  "  KKK,"  read  "  KU;"  for  "coelam,"  read  "  coelum  ;"  for 

"  HUH,"  read  "  KUH  ;"  and  for  ''  Jcavis,"  read  "  kavio." 

262,  line  6,  for  "  ken,"  read  "  kan." 
262,     ,,     40, for  "  taatf,"  read  "  taatto." 

262,  „     45,  for  "  Suomi,"   read  "in   Suomi;"    and  for  " pojn,"   read 

"poju." 

263,  ,,     22,  for  "  marzcicos"  read  "  marczios." 


Vlll 


Corrigenda. 


Page  263,  line  32,  for  "  10."  read  "  10,  namely," 


264, 
265, 
266, 
267, 
267, 
267, 
267, 
268, 
268, 
268, 


5,  for  "  cat am,"  read  "  qatam." 

33,  after  "  we  hare,"  insert  "  the  Aryan  and  Finnic  pairs.' 

12,  for  "girded,"  read  "  is  girded." 
\,for  "  ffaz,"  read  "  qaz." 

8,  for  "  kulla,"  read  "  kulea." 
11,  before  "gule,"  insert  "  Mongol." 
27,  for  "uruda,"  read  "  urudu." 
7,  for  "  sil-al,"  read  ''  sil-at." 

13,  omit  "  salt." 

38,  for  "  beast,"  read  "  heart." 


THE    JOURNAL 


ANTHEOPOLOGICAL    INSTITUTE 


OP 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AND   IRELAND. 


FEBRUARY  STH,  1887. 
FRANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  ordinary  meeting  were  read  and 
signed. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors : — 

FOR  THE    LlBEART. 

From  Messrs.  MACMILLAN  AND  Co.— Palaeolithic  Man  in  North-west 
Middlesex.  By  Jno.  Allen  Brown,  F.G.S.,  &c. 

From  C.  H.  E.  CARMICHAEL,  Esq. — Report  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Literature,  1886. 

From  S.  "W.  SILVER,  Esq. — Catalogue  of  the  York  Gate  Library, 
formed  by  Mr.  S.  W.  Silver.  By  Edward  Augustus 
Petherick. 

From  Dr.  A.  B.  MEYER. — Publicationen  aus  den  Koniglichen 
Ethnographischen  Museum  zu  Dresden.  VI.  Dr.  M.  Uhle. 
Holz-  und  Bambus  -  Gerathe  aus  Nord-West  Neu  Guinea 
(hauptsachlich  gesammelt  von  A.  B.  Meyer)  mit  besonderer 
Beriicksichtigung  der  Ornamentik.  Mit  7  Tafeln,  Licht- 
drnck. 

VOL.  XVII.  B 


2  List  of  Presents. 

From  the  AUTHOR. — Notes  on  the  Evidence  bearing  upon  British 

Ethnology.     By  T.  V.  Holmes,  F.G.S.,  Ac. 
Preliminary  Note  of  an  Analysis  of  the  Mexican  Codices  and 

Graven  Inscriptions.     By  Zelia  Nuttall. 
Di  alcune  accette  di  pietra,  specialmente  di  Giadaite,  del  R. 

Museo  di  Antichita  in  Parma.     By  Dr.  A.  B.  Meyer. 
Intorno  aquattro  accette  di  pietra  che  si  conservano  nel  nmseo 

civico  di  Rovereto.     Memoria  di  A.  B.  Meyer. 
From  the  ACADEMY. — Atti  della  Reale  Accademia  dei  Lincei.  Serie 

Quarta.     Rendiconti.     Vol.  II.     Fas.  11. 
From  the  K.-K.  AKADEMIE  DEB  WISSENSCHAFTEN,  WIEN. — Sitzungs- 

berichte,  philos.-histor.  Classe.     Band  110,  Heft,  1,  2 ;   Baud 

111,  Heft  1,  2;  Register,  XI;  Sitznngsberichte,  math.-naturw. 

Classe.     I  Abthlg.,  1885,  Nos.  5,  6-7,  8,  9-10 ;  1886,  No.  1-3. 

II  Abthlg.,  1885,  No.  4-5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10 ;  1886,  No.  1-2.     Ill 

Abthlg.,  1885,  No.  3-5,  6-7,  8-10 ;  Almanach,  1886. 
From    the    ASSOCIATION. — Journal   of   the    Royal   Historical   and 

Archaeological  Association  of  Ireland.     No.  66. 

Journal  of  the  East  India  Association.     Vol.  XIX.     No.  1. 

From   the  CLUB. — Proceedings  of  the  Berwickshire  Naturalists' 

Club.     1885. 
From  the  SOCIE'TE'  ARCHE"OLOGIQUE,  AGRAM. — Viestnik  hrvatskoga 

Arkeologickoga  Druztva.     Godina  IX.     Br.  1. 
From  the  DEUTSCHE  GESELLSCHAFT  FUR  ANTHROPOLOGIE. — Correb- 

pondenz-Blatt.    1886.  Nos.  10,  11 ;  Archiv  fur  Anthropologie. 

Band  XVI.     Heft  4. 
From  the  SOCIETY. — Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society.     Nos.  248, 

249. 

Proceedings   of    the    Royal    Geographical    Society.     1887. 

February. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.     Nos.  1782-1785. 

Journal   of   the  Royal  Asiatic  Society.     Vol.   XVIII,  Vol. 

XIX,  Part  1. 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology.     Vol. 

VIII. 

• Bulletin  de  la  Societe  d' Anthropologie  de  Lyou.     Tome  IV. 

1885. 

Bulletin    des    Proces-Verbaux   de   la    Societe  d'Emulation 

d'Abbeville.     1885. 

From  the  EDITOR.— Nature.     Nos.  898-901. 

Science.     Nos.  204-207. 

American  Antiquarian.     Vol.  IX.     No.  1. 

Photographic  Times.     Nos.  276-280. 

Revue  d'Anthropologie.     1887.     No.  1. 

Revue  d'Ethnographie.     1886.     No.  4. 

L'Homme.     Nos.  21-22. 

Bullettino  di  Paletnologia  Italiana.     Ser.  II.    Tom.  II.    Nos. 

11,  12. 


SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the  Nile  Valley.         3 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author  : — 

On  the  TKIBES  of  the  NILE  VALLEY,  NORTH  of  KHARTUM. 
By  SIR  CHARLES  W.  WILSON,  K.C.B.,  K.C.M.G.,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S. 

[WITH  PLATE  i.] 

IN  offering  the  present  paper  to  the  Anthropological  Insti- 
tute, I  must  apologise  for  its  incompleteness.  I  have  attempted 
to  throw  some  light  on  the  tribal  history  and  relations  of  the 
people  who  live  in  the  Nile  Valley  north  of  Khartum.  The 
subject  is  one  of  great  difficulty  and  obscurity  from  the  almost 
entire  absence  of  written  records,  and  from  the  extraordinary 
way  in  which  the  races  have  in  many  cases  been  mixed  up.  It 
is  curious,  for  instance,  to  see  how  completely  the  indigenous 
population  has,  in  certain  cases,  lost  its  nationality  whilst 
absorbing  its  Arab  conquerors;  and  how  Hamitic,  Semitic, 
and  Nuba  tribes  alike  claim  descent  from  the  Koreish  of 
Mecca.  My  own  observation  was  limited ;  I  only  came  into 
personal  contact  with  a  few  of  the  tribes ;  but  I  had  to  make 
enquiries  about  the  others  for  the  purposes  of  the  Nile  Expe- 
dition. These  enquiries  were  naturally  as  to  the  political 
relations  of  the  tribes,  and  this  must  account  for  the  absence  of 
scientific  details  in  my  paper.  Active  service  is  not  favourable 
to  scientific  observation  as  regards  ethnological  questions;  the 
disturbance  of  the  population  is  too  great,  and  the  people  are 
too  excited,  too  frightened,  and  too  interested  to  be  natural.  The 
only  way  to  gain  the  confidence  of  natives  is  to  live  amongst 
them  until  they  become  accustomed  to  your  ways,  and  cease  to 
be  frightened  or  shy.  If  natives  once  see  that  you  know  their 
habits,  and  understand  and  like  them,  you  can  get  almost  any- 
thing you  like  out  of  them.  This  is,  perhaps,  especially  the  case 
with  Arabs,  who  are  naturally  great  gossips,  but  who  are  at  the 
same  time  extremely  suspicious  and  believe  that  some  ulterior 
motive  must  underlie  any  leading  or  abrupt  question.  As  far 
as  my  observation  went  there  is  little  to  add  to  the  account 
which  Burckhardt  gave  of  the  Nuba,  though  the  country,  owing 
to  Egyptian  misgovernment,  has  greatly  changed  for  the  worse 
since  his  visit. 

The  tribes  of  the  Nile  Valley  north  of  Khartum  may  con- 
veniently be  divided  into  three  groups;  the  Hamitic,  the 
Semitic,  and  the  Nuba.  I  propose,  however,  in  the  first  place 
to  say  a  few  words  on  the  Arab  tribes  north  of  Assiian,  for  they 
form  as  it  were  a  group  apart. 

These  Arabs  may  be  called  semi-nomads,  for  in  nearly  every 
case  one  portion  of  the  tribe  lives  in  houses  or  villages,  whilst  the 
other  lives  on  the  borders  of  the  cultivated  district ;  some  of  the 

B  2 


4  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

tribes,  however,  are  pure  nomads.  They  all  own  allegiance  to 
the  Egyptian  Government,  and  as  long  as  that  Government  is 
strong  they  are  quiet  and  peaceful,  but  directly  the  central 
authority  is  weakened  they  begin  raiding  each  other.  I  append 
a  list  of  these  tribes,  which  are  all  pure  Arab,  as  far  as  I  could 
ascertain  their  names : 

El  Amaiem  El  Elekat  El  Goheineh  El  Nagameh 

El  Atawlah  El  Endarab  El  Harabi  El  Rewah 

El  Attaiyat  El  Fargan  El  Howatah  El  Saadnah 

El  Awazem  El  Fowa'ied  El  Kallahine  El  Sabh 

El  Azaizah  El  Fazarah  El  Kho welled  El  Sanmlus 

El  Bar'asah  El  Gahmah.  El  Maazi  El  Tarshan 

El  Beli  El  Galailat  El  Marshakah  El  Tarhuna 

El  Beni  Wassal  El  Gawabis  El  Meteirat  El  Tarabine 

El  Do'afa  El  Gawazi  El  Na'am 

35  Tribes. 

Before  entering  into  any  details  respecting  the  tribes  above 
Assiian,  it  is  advisable  to  note  a  few  historical  facts  which  have 
come  down  to  us  with  more  or  less  accuracy.  During  the 
lioman  period  we  find  above  the  first  cataract  two  tribes  or 
races,  the  Nobatse  and  the  Blemmyes,  who  undoubtedly  repre- 
sent the  Nuba  and  Bija  of  the  present  day.  The  Nobatse 
appear  to  have  been  agricultural,  the  Blemmyes  nomad  and 
aggressive,  and  Diocletian  is  said  to  have  settled  colonies  of  the 
former  on  the  Nile  above  Philse,  as  a  "buffer"  between  the 
Eomans  and  the  nomads.  In  451,  the  two  races  combined  in 
an  attack  on  the  Eomans,  but  were  badly  defeated ;  and  in  545, 
the  Nobatse  were  converted  to  Christianity,  and  their  chief, 
Silko,  who  founded  the  Christian  kingdom  of  Dongola,  called  him- 
self "  King  of  the  Nobatse,  and  of  all  the  Ethiopians."  In  20 
or  21  A.H.  (642)  :  Amr  (Amru)  sent  Ali  Sarh,  with  20,000  men, 
against  the  Nubas,  but  it  was  not  till  ten  years  later  that  he 
penetrated  as  far  as  Dongola,  and  "  gave  peace  "  from  Assiian  to 
Aloa1  (which  appears  to  be  Sennar),  imposing  an  annual  tribute 
of  360  slaves  on  the  Nuba  king,  Koleydozo.  An  incident  of  the 
struggle  was  the  attempted  relief  of  a  besieged  Nuba  chief  by 
a  combined  Nuba  and  Bija  force,  in  which  there  was  a  contingent 
from  a  giant  race,  called  El  Kowad,  who  wore  copper  rings  in 
their  lower  lips,  and  had  elephants. 

In  216  A.H.  (832),  the  Moslem  Governor  of  Assiian  entered 
into  a  treaty  with  the  Bija  chief,  Kamin  ibn  Aziz,  by  which  the 
latter  engaged  to  protect  the  road  to  Aidhab  on  the  Red  Sea, 
appoint  an  agent  for  the  tribe,  and  pay  an  annual  tribute  of 
100  camels.  This  is  the  earliest  record  of  a  Government 
engagement  with  the  northern  section  of  the  Bija,  now  the 
Ababdeh. 

1  Aloa  may  be  a  corruption  of  "El Hoi"  tbe  island,  tbe  native  name  of  the 
country  between  the  two  Niles. 


Nile  Valley,  Worth  of  Kharttim.  5 

In  255  A.H.  (869),  Abu  Abclerrahman,  after  a  campaign 
against  the  Nuba,  passed  eastwards  to  the  mines  in  the  Bija 
country  with  the  Rabya,  Jeheyneh,  and  other  tribes,  accom- 
panied by  6,000  camels  carrying  food  and  water.  The  Eabya 
Arabs  settled  in  the  Bija  country,  married  the  daughters  of  the 
Bija  chiefs,  and  became  the  tribal  rulers ;  the  Bija  then  sup- 
ported the  Rabya  in  their  struggles  with  the  Kahtan,  Modher, 
and  other  Arab  tribes.  By  332  A.H.  (943),  the  supremacy  of  the 
Rabya  was  complete ;  and  the  head  chief,  Beshir  ibn  Merwan 
ibn  Ishak,  of  the  Rabya,  is  said  by  Masudi  to  have  then  had 
3,000  Arab  horsemen,  and  30,000  Bija  camel-men. 

In  344  A.H.  (956),  the  king  of  Nuba  commenced  a  succession 
of  attacks  on  Assiian,  but  he  was  invariably  defeated  by  the 
Arabs.  In  1067  A.D.,  according  to  Leo  Africanus,  laiaia,  son  of 
Abubekr,  entered  Lower  Ethiopia  and  Nubia  and  founded  the 
kingdoms  of  Adel  and  Dangali  (Dongola),  but  if  this  be  correct 
the  kingdoms  could  only  have  lasted  for  a  brief  period.  In  674 
A.H.  (1276),  Daud,  king  of  the  Niibas,  attacked  Aidhab,  and 
advancing  northwards  burned  the  "sakiahs"  near  Assiian;  this 
was  the  beginning  of  the  final  struggle  ;  the  Moslems  defeated 
Daud,  destroyed  the  churches,  appointed  his  nephew,  Shekendi, 
Governor  of  Lower  Nubia,  and  made  the  people  pay  the  exemp- 
tion tax.  A  few  years  later  Daud  rose  again,  and  the  final 
extinction  of  the  Christian  Kingdom  of  Dongola  appears  to 
have  taken  place  before  1317  A.D.,  according  to  the  inscription  on 
a  mosque  at  Old  Dongola.  Ibn  Batuta  says  that  the  king  of 
Dongola,  who  he  calls  Ibn  Kenz  Oddin,  became  a  Moslem  in  the 
time  of  El  Melik  en  Nasir,  but  it  is  not  clear  whether  he  means 
Salaeddin,  1171-1193,  or  Ibn  Kalaun,  who  was  reigning  when 
he  visited  Egypt.1  In  725  A.H.  (1326),  Ibn  Batuta  went  up  the 
Nile ;  he  travelled  from  Skit  to  Edfii  with  Dughaim  Arabs,  then 
crossed  the  river,  and  started  on  his  desert  journey  to  Aidhab, 
with  a  Bija  escort,  from  Adoane  (El  Edweh  ?).  At  this  time  the 
Bija  appear  to  have  been  carrying  on  a  war  with  the  people  of 
Barnau.  In  815  A.H.  (1412),  the  Howara  Arab  tribe  attacked 
the  Beni  Kenz,  a  branch  of  the  Rabya,  then  settled  at  Assiian, 
and  drove  them  above  the  cataract ;  Macrizi  mentions  that  they 
were  called  Barabra.  In  1517,  Sultan  Selim  conquered  Egypt, 
and  though  we  have  no  records  that  I  know  of,  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  the  advent  of  the  Turks  induced  a  further  south- 
ward movement  of  the  tribes.  According  to  Burckhardt,  the 
Gharbiyeh  Arab  tribe,  being  hard  pressed  by  the  Arab  Jowabereh, 
asked  Sultan  Selim  for  assistance,  and  obtained  from  him  several 
hundred  Bosniac  soldiers  who  drove  the  Jowabereh  out  of 

1  Perhaps  the  King  of  Dongola  became  a  Moslem  in  1321  A.D.,  when  the  edict 
forbidding  Christians  to  ride  horses,  to  wear  a  white  turban,  &c.,  was  issued. 


6  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

Nubia  and  settled  between  Assiian  and  Say;  the  descendants 
of  these  men,  though  quite  black,  still  call  themselves  Osmanli. 
At  a  more  recent  period,  as  we  know,  the  Turkish  soldiers  intro- 
duced into  the  country  by  Muhammad  Ali  frequently  married 
and  settled  down  amongst  the  natives. 

The  three  races  Arab,  Bija,  and  Nuba  which  inhabit  this 
section  of  the  Nile  Valley,  seem  to  have  the  same  cluck  with 
the  tongue  to  deny  or  affirm  ;  and  they  are  equally  superstitious, 
firmly  believing  in  the  efficacy  of  charms  and  amulets,  and  in 
lucky  and  unlucky  days  for  commencing  a  journey  or  any  of 
the  ordinary  pursuits  and  occupations  of  life.  They  have  also, 
if  I  may  so  express  it,  the  same  strong  religious  instincts,  and 
this  has  led  to  the  formation  of  villages  or  settlements  of 
"fekis,"  or  fakirs,  to  which  the  men  go  for  instruction.  It  is  said 
that  the  enormous  number  of  fakirs  is  due  to  their  exemption 
from  taxation,  and  the  pleasures  of  an  idle  life,  but  I  think  it  is 
really  due  to  religious  sentiment.  The  Fokara  (fakirs  or  fekis) 
of  the  Sudan  represent  the  learned  class  who  can  read  and 
write ;  they  are  the  letter  readers  and  writers  of  the  villages ; 
write  charms  for  lovers,  and  talismans  for  protection  against  harm 
and  the  evil  eye,  and  they  exorcise  demons.  It  is  this  religious 
sentiment  which  has  enabled  the  Khatimiyeh  to  extend  their 
teaching  so  widely.  The  Khatimiyeh  are  one  of  the  many 
Tari'kahs  or  religious  orders  of  Islam ;  and  their  head  is  known 
as  the  Sirr  el  Khatm,  "  Lord  of  perfection,"  or  the  man  who  has 
attained  the  highest  degree  of  learning  and  piety.  The 
Khatimiyeh  are  strict  Sunnis  and  strongly  opposed  to  all  non- 
Koranic  teaching ;  they  play  the  same  part  in  the  Sudan  as 
Senusiism  does  amongst  the  Arabs  of  the  country  to  the  north 
and  west.  The  object  of  the  order  is  to  strive  after  perfection 
in  religion  and  to  spread  their  tenets  amongst  the  people  ;  with 
this  view  mosques  have  been  built  and  schools  established  in 
the  villages ;  and  nearly  every  young  man  I  met  who  could  read 
and  write  had  been  instructed  by  a  member  of  the  order.  The 
first  man  to  introduce  the  Khatimiyeh  teaching  in  the  Sudan 
was  Muhammad  Osman,  an  Arab  of  the  Koreish  tribe,  and 
descendant  of  the  Prophet ;  he  had  three  sons,  one  of  whom 
settled  at  Mecca ;  a  second  was  Sidi  Hassan,  the  father  of  Sidi 
Osman,  of  Kassala ;  and  a  third  was  Muhammad,  the  father  of 
Sheikh  El  Merghani  who  lives  at  Cairo,  and  who  "rendered  most 
valuable  assistance  to  us  at  Sawakin.  The  influence  of  these 
men  over  many  of  the  tribes  is  very  great,  and  that  influence 
has  always  been  used  in  a  most  beneficial  way. 

Before  closing  this  section  of  my  paper  I  must  briefly 
allude  to  the  slave  class.  The  number  of  slaves  in  the  Sudan 
is  enormous,  and  they  constitute  nearly  one-half  of  the  popula- 


Nile  Valley,  North  of  Khartum.  7 

tion;  they  belong  to  a  variety  of  tribes,  speaking  different 
languages,  so  that  their  only  medium  of  communication  is  broken 
Arabic ;  and  this  appears  to  prevent  any  combination  which 
might  lead  to  a  slave  rebellion.  They  are  not  unkindly  treated 
by  their  masters,  but  for  every  slave  who  reaches  Dongola  at 
least  twelve  have  probably  died  on  the  road,  and  even  many 
of  those  who  survive  the  horrors  of  the  long  marches  bear  the 
marks  of  the  cruelty  of  the  slave  hunters.  The  men  are  employed 
as  domestic  servants,  agricultural  laborers,  soldiers,  and  as  small 
craftsmen.:  the  women  as  servants  and  prostitutes  amongst  the 
sedentary  population ;  amongst  the  nomads  the  female  slaves 
frequently  become  the  wives  of  their  masters. 

I.  Hamitic. 

To  the  Hamitic  group  belong  the  Ababdeh,  the  Bisharin,  and 
probably  the  Kabbabish ;  these  tribes  form  part  of  the  Great 
Bija  or  To-Bedawiet  speaking  race  of  which  the  Hadendoas,  and 
Amarars  of  the  Eastern  Sudan  are  also  members.  Mr.  Cameron 
has  so  recently  read  a  paper  on  the  Bija,  near  Sawakin,  with 
special  reference  to  the  two  last  named  tribes  that  I  will  only 
make  a  few  general  remarks. 

In  the  middle  ages  the  Bija  tribes  were  powerful,  and  ap- 
parently consolidated  under  one  leader.  Ibn  Batuta,  early  in 
the  14th  century,  mentions  a  king  of  Bija,  named  El  Hadrabi, 
who  received  two-thirds  of  the  revenue  of  Aidhab,  the  other  one- 
third  going  to  the  king  of  Egypt.  Their  territory  contained  gold 
and  emerald  mines,  and  they  escorted  pilgrims  from  Kiis  to 
Aidhab,  along  the  road  then  followed  by  pilgrims  to  Mecca.  At 
the  close  of  the  14th,  or  very  early  in  the  15th,  their  rich  town 
Zibid  (Aidhab  ?)  on  the  Eed  Sea  was  destroyed,  according  to  Leo 
Africanus,  by  the  Sultan,  and  this  seems  also  to  have  destroyed 
their  cohesion,  for  the  Aidhab  road  was  permanently  closed 
about  the  same  time.  Early  in  the  16th  century  Sawakin  was 
in  the  possession  of  the  Turks  to  whom  the  "  Troglodytse " 
(Hadendoa  ?)  paid  tribute.  Leo  Africanus  (1526)  describes  the 
Bija  as  "most  base,  miserable,  and  living  only  on  milk  and 
camels'  flesh."  Selim  El  Assiiani  says  that  they  reckoned  their 
lineage  from  the  female  side ;  that  each  clan  had  a  chief,  but 
that  they  had  no  sovereign  and  no  religion ;  that  the  son  by  a 
sister  or  daughter  succeeded,  and  that  they  had  fine  cows  and 
camels ;  he  adds,  in  words  which  might  be  used  at  the  present 
day,  "  they  are  swift  in  running,  by  which  they  distinguish 
themselves  from  other  people.  Their  camels  are  likewise  swift 
and  indefatigable,  and  patiently  bear  thirst ;  they  outrun  horses 
with  them  and  fight  on  their  backs,  and  turn  them  round  with 
ease."  Their  country  was  always  in  commotion,  and  they  were 


8  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

a  people  ever  prone  to  mischief.  I  have  already  alluded  to  the 
settlement  of  the  Eabya,  a  tribe  which  entered  Egypt  with 
Amr,  and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  conquest,  amongst  the  Bija, 
and  similar  settlements  appear  to  have  taken  place  amongst  the 
eastern  tribes  by  Arabs  from  Hadramaut,  for  Selim  El  Assuani 
states  that  the  Hadhareb  are  the  principal  men  of  the  nation. 
On  the  other  hand,  Ibn  Batuta  remarks  that  near  the  Eed  Sea 
coast  the  Bija  had  some  Bedawi  Arabs  subject  to  them.  The 
questions  connected  with  the  site  of  Aidhab,  the  position  of  the 
gold  and  emerald  mines,  and  the  old  pilgrim  road,  though  very 
interesting,  hardly  find  a  place  here.  Enough  has  been  said  to 
show  the  peculiar  relations  that  have  existed  between  the  Arabs 
and  the  Bija,  and  to  explain  the  origin  of  the  Sheikh  families, 
which  constitute  such  a  peculiar  feature  amongst  the  tribes. 

The  Abahdeh  occupy  a  most  important  position,  for  they 
extend  from  the  Nile  at  Assuan  to  the  Eed  Sea,  and  reach  north- 
wards to  the  Keneh-Kosseir  road,  thus  completely  covering  the 
south  border  of  Egypt  east  of  the  Nile.  They  represent  with 
some  of  the  Bisharin  clans,  the  Blemmyes  of  the  classical 
geographers,  and  their  liabitat  is  little  changed  since  the  Eoman 
period ;  they  were  in  a  constant  state  of  warfare  with  the 
Eomans,  who  at  last  adopted  the  policy  of  subsidizing  them. 
In  the  middle  ages  they  were  known  as  Bija,  and  conveyed  pil- 
grims from  the  Nile  Valley  to  Aidhab,  the  port  of  embarkation 
for  Jeddah.  From  time  immemorial  they  have  been  guides  of 
caravans  through  the  Nubian  Desert,  and  up  the  Nile  Valley  as 
far  as  Sennar  ;  they  intermarried  with  the  Nuba  and  settled 
down  in  small  colonies  at  Shendi  and  elsewhere  long  before  the 
Egyptian  invasion.  When  the  Sudan  was  conquered  by 
Muhammad  Ali,  the  Ababdeh  rendered  important  services  as 
guides,  in  supplying  information,  and  in  providing  camels  for 
transport ;  the  Fogara  clan  in  reward  for  its  services  was  given 
the  guardianship  of  the  road  across  the  Korosko  Desert,  and 
its  chief,  now  represented  by  Hussein  Pasha  Khalifa,  was  made 
Khalifa ;  new  Ababdeh  settlements  were  also  formed  at  Abu 
Ahmed  and  other  places.  They  are  still  great  trade  carriers, 
and  penetrate  into  the  most  distant  districts ;  and  as  they  are 
constantly  meeting  members  of  the  various  colonies  of  their 
tribe  they  have  unusual  sources  of  information  and  opportunities 
for  intrigue.  The  Ababdeh  as  a  rule  speak  Arabic,  having  from 
close  contact  with  Egypt  lost  their  own  language,  but  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  tribe  in  many  cases  still  speak  To- 
Bedawiet;  those  sections  nearest  to  the  Nile  have  a  large 
admixture  of  fellah  blood.  They  claim  an  Arab  origin,1  ap- 

1  Burckhardt  says  they  are  descended  from  Selman,  an  Arab  of  the  Beni  Helal. 


Nile  Valley,  North  of  Khartum.  9 

parently  through  their  Sheikhs,  and  they  have  adopted  Bedawi 
dress  and  habits,  but  they  are  not  so  warlike  nor  of  such  fine 
temperament  as  the  true  Arabs  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  who 
look  down  upon  them  with  feelings  almost  of  contempt.  They 
are  lithe  and  well  built  but  small ;  the  average  height  is  no 
more  than  five  feet  except  in  the  Sheikh  class  who  are  evidently 
of  Arab  origin.  The  Ababdeh  have  the  character  of  being 
faithless  and  being  bound  by  no  oath;  they  are  notorious  for 
duplicity  rather  than  for  courage ;  and  are  not  to  be  trusted 
unless  one  of  the  nearest  relations  is  left  behind  as  a  hostage. 
They  were  formerly  poor,  but  have  now  become  enriched  by 
English  gold,  and  probably  the  most  wealthy  of  the  tribes ;  this 
has  not,  however,  secured  their  complete  loyalty.  The  Ababdeh 
clans  are:  (1)  The  Ash  Shebab,  Sheikh  Beshir  Abu  Jibran,  who 
appears  to  be  a  descendant  of  the  Beshir  Ibn  Merwan  of  the 
Rabya,  who  first  settled  amongst  the  Bija;  they  live  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  desert,  and  number  about  3,000  camel  men ; 
(2)  The  Abudyin,  Sheikh  Minshetta  Karar,  numbering  1,000 
to  1,500  men ;  and  (3)  the  Fogara,  Hussein  Pasha  Khalifa,  about 
1,000  men.  Sheikh  Beshir  is  looked  upon  as  the  representative 
of  the  old  line  of  Sheikhs,  but  the  privileges  granted  to  the 
Khalifa  family  by  Muhammad  Ali  and  his  successors  have 
rendered  their  clan  the  most  wealthy  and  important. 

The  Bisharin  occupy  a  position  almost  as  important  as  that 
of  the  Ababdeh,  for  they  stretch  from  the  Nile,  between  the 
Atbara  and  Abu  Ahmed,  to  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Elba  on  the 
Eed  Sea,  and  hold  the  western  portion  of  the  Sawakin-Berber 
road.  They  are  nomads,  and  divided  into  several  clans  of 
which  we  have  little  definite  information,  but  they  are  said  to 
number  about  20,000  men.  They  speak  To-Bedawiet  and  are 
apparently  of  much  purer  blood  than  the  Ababdeh.  They  are 
well-built,  have  good  features,  coarse,  wiry,  black  hair  dressed 
up  in  the  Bija  fashion,  and  the  velvety  skin  of  the  Bija  race ; 
they  are  great  trade  carriers  and  celebrated  for  their  breed  of 
camels.  The  north-western  clans  are  almost  entirely  dependent 
upon  Egypt  for  their  supply  of  -wheat  and  other  necessaries, 
which  they  obtain  from  Assiian ;  and  they  are  allied  to  the 
Ababdeh  of  that  district.  They  have  never  taken  any  very 
active  part  in  the  Sudan  disturbances,  and  most  of  the  clans 
remained  neutral  though  much  pressed  by  Osman  Digna  to 
join  him.  The  known  clans  are  : — 

Sbentirab. — On  the  east  near  the  Eed  Sea. 
Hamed  Grab. — On  the  east  near  the  Bed  Sea. 
Aliab. — In  the  Korosko  Desert  south  of  the  Ababdeh. 
Amrab. — In  the  Korosko  Desert  south  of  the  Ababdeh. 


10  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

Eireiab        ~| 


Hamar          [  On  the   right   bank  of  the   Nile  north  of  the 

Geihainab     f     Atbara. 

Nafiab 


J 


Burckhardt  also  mentions  the  Hammadab,  a  handsome,  bold 
race,  mnch  given  to  drinking,  on  the  Atbara  ;  and  the  Baterab, 
but  I  did  not  hear  these  names  mentioned. 

The  Kabbabish  tribe  (Bruce  derives  the  name  from  Hebsh 
Sheep)  is  perhaps  the  largest  in  the  Sudan,  and  its  various  clans 
range  over  a  wide  extent  of  country  west  of  the  province  of 
Dougola,  and  from  the  Nile  to  the  confines  of  Darfur.  Their 
language  is  a  pure  Koranic  Arabic,  but  their  origin  is  not 
known  ;  they  have  a  tradition  that  they  are  of  Mogrebin  extrac- 
tion, and  that  they  were  many  generations  ago  driven  from 
Tunis.  They  may  thus  perhaps  be  of  Berber  descent ;  but 
whilst  the  Sheikhs  are  apparently  of  Arab  origin  the  men  seem 
to  be  more  nearly  allied  to  the  Bija  tribes  than  to  the  Arabs. 
There  is  a  curious  notice  in  Leo  Africanus  to  the  effect  that 
the  king  of  Nubia,  whose  capital  was  Dongola,  was  constantly 
at  war  with  the  people  of  the  Desert  of  Goran,  on  the 
south  (ie.,  Bayuda),  who,  being  descended  from  the  people  called 
Zingani,  spoke  a  language  no  one  else  understood.  May  not  this 
reference  be  to  the  Kabbabish  not  then  Arabicised.  The  view 
that  the  Kabbabish  are  not  Arabs  is  supported  by  the  fact  that 
they  say  the  Kawahleh,  one  of  their  clans,  is  not  Kabbabish,  but 
was  affiliated  to  them  many  years  ago.  Kawahleh  is  a  name 
of  Arab  formation,  and  Burckhardt  in  the  early  part  of  this 
century  mentions  them  as  a  distinct  tribe  not  so  numerous  but 
more  powerful  than  the  Shukriyeh  and  living  about  Abu  Haraz 
and  011  the  Atbara ;  the  clan  which  is  a  very  powerful  one, 
took  a  distinct  line  of  its  own  in  favour  of  the  Mahdi  during 
the  rebellion.  It  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  Kabbabish  received 
Arab  rulers,  like  the  Ababdeh,  after  their  arrival  in  the  Sudan ; 
they  own  vast  herds  of  camels,  cattle  and  sheep,  and  before  the 
war  they  used  to  have  a  monopoly  of  all  the  transport  from  the 
Nile,  north  of  Abu  Gussi  to  Kordofan.  They  are  dark,  with 
black,  wiry  hair,  carefully  arranged  in  tightly  rolled  curls  which 
cling  to  the  head,  and  rather  thick  aquiline  noses.  They  have 
had  little  contact  with  civilisation,  and  the  politics  of  the  tribe 
were  always  difficult  to  understand.  They  are  divided  into  two 
great  branches  each  of  which  consists  of  several  clans. 

The  Sheikh  of  the  whole  tribe  is  Sh.  Saleh  Fadlallah,  who, 
before  the  war  lived  in  great  state ;  he  has  much  slave  blood 
and  is  nearly  black.  The  section  formerly  under  his  immediate 
control  consists  of  the  following  clans  : — 


Nile  Valley,  North  of  Khartilm.  11 

Nurab,  at  Bir  es  Safi  and  Gabra ;  Sh.  Saleh's  own  clan. 
Welad  Hauwelab,  at  Bir  Ambalili ;  Sh.  Saleh  Wad  Obeid. 
Serajab,  at  Bir  Amri  and  Hajilij  ;  Sh.  Ahmed  Wad  Menallah. 
Attawiyeh,  at  Bir  Hobej. 

Welad  Suleiman,  at  Bir  Es  Safi  and  Bint  Umm  Bah. 
Hauwarab,  at  Bir  Gabra. 
Umm  Seraih,  east  of  Bir  Hobej. 
Eawaheleh,  at  Bir  Umm  Sidr. 
Bahuda,  at  Bir  Es  Safi, 
Sheriabla,  near  Obeid. 
Kibeishab. 

Kawahleh,  Bir  el  Kejmar. 

Aiwardieh,  Ghalayau,  Walad  Ugbak,  Himrab,  Ayayit,  and 
Dereywab. 

The  minor  section  under  Sh.  Salim  Isawi,  is  often  called  the 
Umm  Meter  tribe ;  many  of  the  Sheikhs  and  others  have 
houses  on  the  Nile  in  the  Dongola  province,  but  the  clans  really 
live  in  the  Kab  Valley,  an  oasis  running  parallel  to  the  Nile. 
The  clans  are,  passing  from  south  to  north,  the  Bosh, 
Wamattu,  Ghudayrab,  Gungunnab,  Dar  Bushut,  Murayssisab, 
Dar  Hamid,  Bulaylat,  Awayidah. 

II.  Semitic, 

All  the  Arab  speaking  tribes  of  the  Sudan  speak  a  pure  but 
archaic  Arabic,  such  probably  as  they  spoke  when  they  left 
Arabia.  They  invariably  pronounce  the  letter  Kaf  as  "g"  in 
good,  and  the  Jim  like  "/"  in  jar,  agreeing  in  this  respect  with 
the  Syrian  and  Bedawi  pronunciation,  and  not  with  the  Egyptian. 
The  Arabs  distinguish  themselves  as  Ahl  Ibl,  "people  of  the 
camel,"  who  live  as  nomads  in  the  desert,  and  have  kept  their 
blood  pure ;  Ahl  Sawaki,  "  people  of  the  Sakieh,"  who  have 
settled  down  as  agriculturists,  irrigating  the  ground,  and  have 
intermarried  with  the  Nuba ;  and  Baggarah,  or  cattle  breeders 
and  owners.  The  purely  nomad  tribes  on  the  south  have  to 
make  annual  migrations  to  avoid  the  fly  (Johara)  which  appears 
during  the  rainy  season ;  these  migrations  are  nearly  always 
attended  by  disturbances,  but  the  Egyptians  utilised  them,  as 
the  Funniyeh  kings  did  at  an  earlier  date,  to  collect  the  taxes. 
Several  of  the  tribes,  as  the  Shagiah  and  Ja'alin,  have  adopted 
the  non-Semitic  custom  of  gashing  the  cheeks,  but  the  habit  is 
not  general.  As  a  rule  the  head  is  shaved  according  to  Arab 
custom,  but  the  rule  is  very  laxly  observed  by  men  of  mixed 
descent ;  there  is,  however,  no  "  hair-dressing  "  such  as  exists 
amongst  the  Hamitic  tribes.  The  Arab  arms  are  the  lance,  the 
two-edged  sword,  and  a  small  knife  fastened  by  a  strap  to  the 


1 2  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

left  arm,  and  they  do  not  carry  a  shield;  they  follow  what 
appears  to  be  the  old.  Semitic  custom  of  beheading  a  fallen 
enemy,  but  they  never  mutilate  the  bodies  in  the  horrible 
manner  that  the  Brja  races  (Hadendoa)  do,  nor  do  they  maim 
prisoners  in  the  way  Osrrian  Digna  is  said  to  have  done. 

One  of  the  most  interesting,  and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the 
most  obscure  questions  in  the  Sudan  is  the  extent  to  which  the 
conquering  Arabs  established  themselves  amongst  the  indi- 
genous tribes  as  over-lords  or  ruling  families.  In  the  case  of 
the  Bija  (Ababdeh  ?)  we  have,  as  already  noted,  an  historic 
record  of  an  occurrence  of  the  kind,  and  it  seems  probable  that 
many  other  tribes  accepted  Arab  rulers  in  a  similar  way.  This 
would  explain  the  claim  of  people  such  as  the  Mahass,  who  are 
clearly  N  liba,  to  be  of  Arab  origin ;  and  also  the  Semitic  type, 
the  higher  intelligence,  and  often  the  greater  stature  of  the 
Sheikh  class.  In  some  cases  the  Arab  rulers  appear  to  have 
intermarried  with  slaves  rather  than  with  the  tribe  they  had 
joined,  as  in  the  case  of  Sheikh  Saleh,  of  the  Kabbabish,  who  is 
nearly  black.  The  chiefs  of  settled  clans  are  always  termed 
Meliks,  whilst  those  of  the  nomads  are  Sheikhs,  a  distinction 
that  seems  to  be  of  very  ancient  date.  The  "  Meliks  "  or  kings 
of  Palestine  who  were  overthrown  by  Joshua,  probably  occupied 
positions  analogous  to  those  of  the  Sudan  Meliks. 

The  nomad  Arabs,  especially  the  Baggarah,  are  as  thoroughly 
Arab  now  as  when  they  left  their  Asiatic  home,  and  it  may  still 
be  said  of  them  that  their  hand  is  against  everyone  and  every- 
one's hand  against  them.  Before  the  Egyptian  conquest  the 
riverain  population  was  armed  and  strong  enough  to  resist  the 
nomads,  and  in  the  south  the  Sennar  Government  maintained 
order  with  an  army  of  blacks.  During  the  Egyptian  occupation 
the  riverain  population  was  weakened  by  misgovernment  and 
over-taxation ;  the  country  was  depopulated  to  a  great  extent, 
and  the  power  of  the  Meliks  taken  from  them.  Order  was  kept 
by  the  Egyptian  military  forces,  but  these  having  now  been 
withdrawn,  or  killed,  the  riverain  population  is  entirely  at  the 
mercy  of  the  nomads.  That  the  latter  have  made  use  of  their 
power  we  know  from  recent  accounts,  and  the  fact  that 
Danaglas  have  been  raided  and  sold  as  slaves  in  Egypt  since 
the  withdrawal  of  the  British  troops. 

The  Gararish,  or  Kararish,  are  semi-nomads,  extending  along 
the  right  bank  of  the  Nile  from  Wady  Haifa  to  Merawi :  many 
of  them  are  settled  as  agriculturists  in  Argo  Island,  and  they 
are  much  employed  as  guides  and  in  the  transport  of  goods. 
They  claim  to  be  distantly  connected  with  the  Fogara  clan  of 
the  Ababdehs  ;  they  are  evidently  of  very  mixed  blood,  but  the 
Arab  type  is  much  stronger  than  the  Bija,  and  they  are  pro- 


Nile  Valley,  North  of  Kliartiim.  13 

bably  of  Arab  origin.     They  number  about  400  men  and  have 
two  Sheikhs :  Sh.  Abdullah  Wad  Shemein  and  Sh.  Suleiman. 

The  Hauwawir  are  pure  nomads  and  extend  along  the 
desert  road  from  Debbeh  to  Khartum  as  far  as  Bir  Gamr, 
and  from  Ambigol  to  Wady  Bishara.  They  claim  to  be,  and 
evidently  are,  of  pure  Arab  blood,  and  say  that  they  are  related  to 
the  Huweir  of  Egypt.  They  are  not  unlike  the  nomad  Ja'alin 
in  appearance,  and  they  have  not  adopted  any  of  the  African 
customs  such  as  gashing  the  cheek,  and  dressing  the  hair ;  they 
are  friends  and  allies  of  the  Sowarab,  number  about  2,000  men, 
and  have  large  herds  of  oxen,  sheep,  and  many  camels.  The 
Sheikh  is  Khalifa  Taiyalla.  The  clans  are : — 

Fezarab,  at  Bir  Gamr. 
Mowalikeh,  at  Bir  Bahat. 
Hamasin,  at  Bir  El  Elai. 
Umm  Kereim,  at  Bir  abu  Osher. 
Harrarin,  at  Bir  Hassanauwi. 
Umm  Eoba,  at  Bir  Bayiida. 

The  Shagiah  are,  perhaps,  the  most  interesting  tribe  in  the 
Nile  Valley;  they  are  partly  nomad,  partly  agricultural,  and 
occupy  the  country  on  both  banks  of  the  Nile  from  Korti  to  the 
vicinity  of  Birti,  and  a  portion  of  the  Bayiida  desert.  They 
claim  descent  from  a  certain  Shayig  Ibn  Hamaidan,  of  the 
Beni  Abbas,  and  maintain  that  they  came  over  from  Arabia  at 
the  time  of  the  conquest,  but  whether  they  led  the  van  of 
Arab  invasion  in  the  seventh  century,  or  took  part  in  the 
greater  invasion  and  conquest  in  the  fourteenth  century,  is 
uncertain.  At  Old  Dongola  there  is  an  inscription  to  the 
effect  that  Safeddin  Abdullah  (who  may  have  been  a  Shagi'ah 
chief)  opened  a  mosque  on  the  1st  June,  1317  A.D.,  in  honour 
of  his  victory  over  the  infidels.  On  reaching  the  district  they 
now  occupy  the  Shagiah  dispossessed  and  largely  intermarried 
with  a  people  of  Nuba  origin,  whose  language  was  Rotana; 
some  of  the  places  still  retain  their  Rotana  names ;  and  in  one 
part  of  the  district  there  are  families  which  have  preserved 
their  Nuba  blood  in  comparative  purity.  Like  other  Arab 
tribes  they  formerly  owned  allegiance  to  the  Funniyeh  kings 
of  Sennar,  but  when  the  central  authority  become  weak  they 
threw  off  the  yoke,  and  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  Memluks 
in  the  Sudan  had  possessed  themselves  of  the  country  north- 
wards as  far  as  Mahass.  They  were  forced  back  by  the 
Memluks,  but  they  have  never  forgotten  that  they  once  ruled 
Dongola ;  and  the  Danaglas  still  tell  dismal  stories  of  the 
sufferings  they  endured  under  their  Arab  taskmasters.  Hence 
arose  a  blood  feud  which  had  a  curious  influence  on  several 


14  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

incidents  of  the  Sudan  rebellion.  When  the  Egyptians  invaded 
the  country  in  1820  the  Shagiah  were  under  two  "  meliks " 
or  "kinglets,"  Chaues  and  Zubeir,  whose  modern  represen- 
tatives are  Saleh  Bey  Wad  el  Mek,  and  Khashm  el  Mus. 
At  that  period  they  were  distinguished  for  their  love  of 
liberty,  their  courage,  their  skill  as  horsemen,  their  hospitality, 
their  schools,  in  which  all  Moslem  science  was  taught,  and  their 
great  wealth  in  corn  and  cattle;  their  cavalry  mounted  on 
horses  of  the  renowned  Dongola  breed  were  known  and  dreaded 
throughout  the  Sudan ;  their  arms  were  the  lance  and  sword  ; 
and  the  chiefs  wore  coats  of  mail  and  had  shields  of  hippopo- 
tamus •  or  crocodile  skin,  whilst  the  horsemen  carried  javelins 
which  they  threw.  They  offered  a  stubborn  resistance  to  the 
Egyptians,  but,  once  subdued,  they  joined  the  Egyptian  army, 
and  rendered  important  services  in  the  further  conquest  of  the 
country.  For  these  services,  and  others  connected  with  the 
suppression  of  the  Ja'alin  revolt  in  1822,  they  were  granted 
lauds  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Nile,  between  Shendi  and 
Khartum,  from  which  the  Ja'alin  had  been  expelled.  As  the 
Egyptian  power  became  consolidated  these  settlements  increased 
in  importance,  and  supplied  recruits  to  the  Shagiah  battalions 
of  Bashi  Bazuks,  of  which  the  Egyptians  maintained  several ; 
these  battalions  were  commanded  by  Shagiah  officers,  many  of 
whom  grew  wealthy  and  had  country  houses  at  Halfaya,  near 
Khartum.  The  military  relationship  was  followed  by  a  more 
intimate  one,  for  the  Turks  took  Shagiah  wives,  and  the  sons 
all  entered  the  Bashi  Baziik  force,  and  became  the  best  fighting 
material  in  the  Sudan  from  a  Bashi  Baziik  point  of  view. 

The  tribe  is  divided  into  twelve  clans,  and  of  these  the 
Sowarab  and  a  portion  of  the  Aiiuiah  remained  nomad,  whilst 
the  others  became  agricultural  as  they  intermarried  with  the 
Nuba.  Their  country,  which  is  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Ethiopia, 
is  the  most  fertile  south  of  the  Fayiim,  and  many  of  their 
villages  are  well  built,  with  a  proportion  of  fortified  houses  not 
unlike  in  shape  the  pylon  of  an  Egyptian  temple.  The  Shagiah 
speak  Arabic,  and,  as  a  rule,  preserve  the  Semitic  type,  but  the 
large  admixture  of  alien  blood  is  very  evident,  and  the  Nuba 
families  amongst  them,  though  thoroughly  Arabicised,  retain 
their  Nuba  features.  The  nomads  have  to  a  great  extent  pre- 
served their  purity  of  blood,  and  observe  many  Arab  customs 
lost  to  the  riverain  population.  The  latter  section  has  sadly 
deteriorated  through  close  intercourse  with  the  Turk  and 
Albanian  Bashi  Bazuks  in  the  Egyptian  service ;  of  all  people 
in  the  Sudan  they  are  the  most  fickle,  one  day  loyal,  the  next 
openly  disloyal ;  one  day  as  brave  as  lions,  the  next  as  timid  as 
sheep;  capable  of  acts  of  great  self-sacrifice,  and  also  of  the 


Nile  Valley ,  North  of  Kharttim.  15 

foulest  treachery.  Their  actions  seem  to  be  governed  by  impulse, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  a  Shagiah  will  do  under  any 
given  circumstances.  General  Gordon's  first  fight  was  to  rescue 
a  few  Shagiah,  shut  up  in  a  fort  at  Halfaya,  who,  to  everyone's 
astonishment,  remained  loyal  while  their  comrades  went  over  to 
the  enemy.  Saleh  Bey,  the  head  of  the  whole  tribe,  surren- 
dered at  Fadassi,  on  the  Blue  Nile,  with  a  steamer,  boats,  guns, 
and  ample  provisions,  when  he  knew  he  was  to  be  relieved  in 
two  or  three  days  by  Gordon ;  yet  no  sooner  did  he  join  the 
Mahdi  than  he  refused  to  obey  him,  and  was  kept  in  chains 
throughout  the  siege.  Khashm  el  Miis,  on  the  other  hand, 
remained  loyal  to  the  end  under  most  trying  circumstances. 
General  Gordon  says  he  "  will  back  them  to  try  a  man's  patience 
more  sorely  than  any  other  people  in  the  wide  world,  yea,  and 
in  the  universe."  The  Shagiah  are  religious,  and  in  no  tribe 
has  the  teaching  of  Sidi  Osman,  of  Kassala,  which  represents 
progress  and  civilisation  as  opposed  to  the  stagnation  and  bar- 
barism of  Mahdiism,  so  many  followers. 
The  Shagiah  clans  are  : — 

1.  B'aiidab,  at  Birti.  Melik,  Muhammad  Wad  el  Sadyk. 

2.  Omarab,  at  Amri.  Melik,  Walad  Soeyl. 

3.  Wad  Uram  Salim.  Sub-clan  Hamdab,  at  Hamdab.    Melik, 
Wad  et  Tayib. 

4  Kadangab,  at  Barkal  and  Karimah. 

5.  Nafiab,  or  Walad  Amir,  at  Duaim.  Melik,  Omar  Soleyman. 

6.  Howeyshab,  at  Abu  Dom  Sanam.    Melik,  Saleh  Samarit. 
Sub-clan  Salahab. 

7.  Sowarab,  the  settled  portion  at  Goreir  and  Hattani,  Sheikh, 
Muhammad  Saleh  ;  and  at  Wady  Bishara,  Sheikh  Wad  el  CJzeirik. 
The  nomad  portion  is  divided  into  two  principal  sections,  the 
Deisarab,  Sheikh  Muhammad  Wad  el  Kheir,  and  the  Fufunja, 
Sheikh  Ali  Baghft.     The  nomads  number  about  1,000  men,  and 
stretch  across  the  desert  from  Abdum  to  Bir  Gamr  and  Wady 
Bishara ;  they  own  large  numbers  of  camels,  cattle,  and  sheep, 
and   before  the  war  had  charge,  with  the  Hauwawir,  of  the 
Debbeh-Khartum  road. 

8.  Auniah,  partly  settled  at  Korti  and  Wady  Bishara ;  partly 
nomad  in  the  desert  between  those  places. 

9.  Hannikab.     Melik,  Khashm  el  Miis. 

10.  Adlanab.     Melik,  Saleh  Bey. 

11.  Eakabiyah. 

12.  Hakemab,  at  Belal  and  Nuri. 

At  Belal  and  Niiri  are  several  Nuba  families  of  nearly  pure 
blood,  which,  though  now  speaking  Arabic,  and  Arab  in  habit, 
appear  to  have  been  later  immigrants  from  the  south-west  at 


16  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

the  time  of  the  Funniyeh  supremacy.  At  Korti  are  the  Beday- 
riah,  a  Nuba  people  with  an  admixture  of  Arab  blood,  who  still 
speak  Itotana  amongst  themselves.  They  are  generally  classed 
with  the  Shagiah,  and  were  until  lately  under  Shagiah  chiefs,  but 
their  name,  derived  from  Bedayr,  the  diminutive  of  Bedr,  "  the 
full  moon,"  is  Arab ;  possibly  at  an  early  period  some  numbers 
of  the  Bedayriah  tribe,  now  north-north-west  of  Kordofan, 
may  have  established  an  over-lordship,  which  was  afterwards 
wrested  from  them  by  the  Shagiah. 

,  The  next  in  interest  and  importance  is  the  Ja'alin  tribe,  which 
formerly  occupied  the  country  on  both  banks  of  the  Nile  from 
Khartum  to  Abu  Ahmed.     The  Ja'alin  claim  descent  from  Abbas, 
the  uncle  of  Muhammad,  of  the  Koreish  tribe,  and  they  are  un- 
doubtedly of  Arab  origin,  though  the  type  has  been  much  modi- 
fied in  those  clans  which  took  to  agricultural  pursuits  and  inter- 
married with  the  Nuba  population.     The  name  Ja'alin  (sing. 
Ja'ali)  does  not  seem  to  be  derived  from  any  founder  of  the  tribe, 
but  from  the  root  Ja'al,  "to  put,"  "to  stay,"  and  hence  it  means,  in 
this  sense,  those  who  abide  or  settle.     The  term  Ja'ailah  (root, 
Ja'al)  is  still  used  in  the  Lebanon  for  the  temporary  abodes  of 
the  people  in  spring-time ;  and  Ja'alin  are  therefore  what  we 
should  call  "  squatters  "  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.     According  to 
their  own  tradition  the  Ja'alin  emigrated  to  Egypt  in  the  12th 
century,  and  thence  worked  their  way  up  the  Nile,  but  they 
appear  to  have  settled  in  the  Sudan  before  the  Shagiah,  and 
probably  reached  the  country  at  a  much  earlier  date  than  the 
12th  century.     They  were  tributary  to  the  Funniyeh  kings  of 
Sennar,  and  must  then  have  been  of  great  importance,  for  they 
had  a  prince  of  their  own  race  called  Wad  Agib,  whose  family 
intermarried  with  the  reigning  family,  and  who,  under  the  kings 
of  Sennar,  exercised  authority  as  chief  of  all  the  Arabs  eastward 
to  the  Red  Sea,  and  northward  to  Korti  and  Mahass.     At  the 
date  of  the  Egyptian  invasion  they  were  independent,  and  the 
strongest  of  the  Arab  tribes ;  at  first  they  submitted,  but  in 
1822  the  Saadab  clan  rose,  under  Mek  Nimr.  who  was  of  the 
Wad  Agib  family,  and  massacred  the  Egyptian  garrison  at  Shendi 
and  burned  Muhammad   Ali's  son   alive.     The   rebellion   was 
suppressed  in  the  most  ruthless  manner ;  the  Saadab  were  almost 
exterminated  and  their  lands  given  to  the  Shagiah;  and  the 
whole  Ja'alin  tribe  was  afterwards  looked  upon  with  distrust. 
The  Ja'alin  were  practically  debarred  from  Government  employ- 
ment, and  from  service  in  the  Bashi  Baziik  force  which  was 
recruited  from  the  more  favoured  Shagiah ;  they  never  became 
completely  reconciled  to  Egyptian  rule,  and  this  may  explain 
the  fact  that  they  were  the  first  tribe  near  Khartum  to  rise,  and 
that  almost  to  a  man,  they  went  against  the  government.     The 


Nile  Valleij,  North  of  Khartum.  17 

noted  Zubeir  Pasha  belongs  to  the  Jamiab  clan  of  the  tribe  ;  he 
is  descended  from  one  of  the  oldest  families,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  that,  had  he  been  so  disposed,  he  could  have  kept  them 
loyal  and  the  country  north  of  Khartum  open.  It  was  the 
existence  of  this  hostile  tribe  north  of  Khartum  which  made 
communication  with  General  Gordon  so  difficult.  The  Ja'alin 
are  now  partly  agricultural,  partly  nomad,  and  they  are 
divided,  as  far  as  could  be  ascertained  into  the  following 
clans  : — 

Gereiyat. — Sheikh  Wad  el  Jahiiri ;  nomads  between  the  Nile 
near  Khartum  and  Bir  Gabra  umm  G  animal,  there  are  three 
sections  :  the  Wahalab,  Sanitab,  and  Mukatab  ;  and  they  number 
about  1,000  men. 

Futahdb. — Nomad  and  riverain  on  left  bank  a  little  below 
Khartum. 

Sururab. — Sh.  Muhammad  Wad  es  Seyd,  agricultural,  between 
Omdurman  and  Kereri ;  on  left  bank. 

Jamiab. — Partly  nomad  partly  agricultural ;  between  Jebel 
Garri  and  Kerreri,  and  thence  to  Bir  Gabra  in  the  desert.  They 
were  formerly  on  both  banks  of  the  Nile,  but  now  on  left  bank 
only.  Zubeir  Pasha  and  Feki  Mustapha,  who  blockaded  the 
north  side  of  Khartum  on  the  left  bank,  belong  to  this  clan. 

Gereishab. — Agricultural ;  Sh.Wad  el  Habashi  at  Wad  Habashi 
north  of  the  Sixth  Cataract. 

Sdddab. — Agricultural ;  at  Salawa  on  left  bank,  and  round 
Shendi  on  right  bank.  The  Sheikh  Wad  Hamza  of  the  family 
of  Mek  Nimr  was  the  Mahdi's  Emir  of  Shendi. 

Suleiab. — Sh.  Fayit ;  nomad  and  agricultural,  Wady  el  Ahmar, 
on  left  bank. 

Muhammadab. — Sh.  El  Khidr,  agricultural ;  near  Matammeh. 

Kitayab. — Sh.  Feki  Khalaf  Allah,  left  bank  below  Matammeh. 
said  by  some  to  be  the  parent  Ja'ali  clan,  and  the  Sheikh  is  looked 
upon  as  the  head  of  the  whole  tribe. 

Ardmelah. — Melik  Beshir ;  agricultural,  left  bank  below 
Matammeh ;  they  are  called  the  people  of  Wad  Agi'd. 

The  Jebeldb,  Mukniyeh,  Aliab,  Zeidab,  Temarab,  and  Nafiab 
are  also  Ja'ali  clans  below  Matammeh,  partly  nomad  and  partly 
agricultural. 

The  Ja'alin  differ  so  much  from  the  Shagi'ah  in  feature  that 
they  can  readily  be  distinguished  at  a  glance.  Burckhardt 
says  that  the  true  Ja'alin  from  the  eastern  desert  have  exactly 
the  same  countenance  and  expression  of  feature  as  the  Bedawin 
of  Eastern  Arabia,  and  he  remarks  that  their  beards  are  even 
shorter  and  thinner.  Mr.  Van  Dyck,  son  of  the  well-known 
Dr.  Van  Dyck  of  Beirut,  who  was  with  me  in  the  Sudan,  com- 
pared the  difference  to  that  between  the  Druses  (Shagfah)  and 
VOL.  xvii.  c 


18  Sm  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

Maronites  (Ja'alin).  The  typical  Ja'ali  has  a  nearly  peipendicular 
forehead,  a  sharp  nose,  and  a  rather  pointed  chin  which  some- 
times projects  in  a  marked  manner.  The  Shagiah  has  a  sloping 
forehead,  a  more  aquiline  nose,  and  a  slightly  receding  chin. 
The  Shagiah  face  is  long,  with  a  contemplative  expression  ;  the 
Ja'ali  face  is  short  with  a  quick,  sharp  expression  as  of  a 
smart  man  of  business.  The  Shagiah  have  the  character  of 
being  overbearing  as  Bashi  Bazuks,  and  hard  as  masters  or  land- 
owners ;  the  Ja'alin  of  being  unscrupulous  merchants  and  cruel 
slave  dealers.  Both  tribes  have  adopted  the  African  custom  of 
gashing  the  cheeks  of  their  children;  the  Shagiah  gashes  are 
vertical,  the  Ja'ali  horizontal,  and  the  latter  say  they  adopted 
the  custom  from  the  former. 

The  Monassir  occupy  the  cataract  country  from  Birti  upwards 
to  the  Eobatabs ;  they  are  partly  nomad,  partly  agricultural,  but 
have  no  great  extent  of  cultivated  ground  ;  the  riverain  popu- 
lation lives  in  houses  and  villages,  and  the  whole  tribe  numbers 
about  2,500  men.  They  claim  kinship  with  the  Ababdeh 
through  a  common  ancester,  Mansur,  brother  of  Abad,  the 
reputed  grandfather  of  Ababdeh;  they  are  also  connected  with 
the  Shagiah.  Their  language  is  Arabic,  and  they  appear  to  be, 
like  their  neighbours,  the  Shagiah,  of  mixed  Arab  and  Nuba 
descent;  their  connexion  with  the  Ababdeh  may  be  through 
the  Arab  blood  in  that  tribe.  The  Sheikh  Suleiman  Wad  Naman 
Wad  Ganrr  acquired  an  evil  reputation  through  the  murder  of 
Colonel  Stewart  and  the  English  and  French  consuls. 

The  clans  are  : — 

Hamamid,  at  Bir  Sani. 
Kahulah,  at  Ab  Kharit. 
Kajabab,  at  Bir  Jawrah  or  Jora. 
Walad  Gamr,  at  Wady  Gamr. 

The  Robatab  are  partly  nomad,  partly  agricultural;  they 
occupy  the  great  bend  of  the  Nile  at  Abu  Ahmed,  and  the  island 
of  Mograt.  They  speak  Arabic  and  claim  descent  from  a  certain 
Robat,  or  Rabat,  of  the  Beni  Abbas  ;  but  they  are  very  frequently 
spoken  of  as  one  of  the  Ja'alin  clans.  They  are  of  mixed  Arab 
and  Nuba  blood,  and  number  about  3,000  men.  The  heads  of 
the  two  divisions  of  the  tribe  are  Melik  Muhammad  Nabfh  who 
lives  at  Kuddek,  and  Sheikh  Bishir  of  Mograt  Island. 

The  Hassaniyeli  are  pure  nomads,  and  apparently  of  Arab 
descent.  They  occupy  the  desert  between  Abu  Dom  (Merawi) 
and  the  Nile  opposite  Shendi ;  the  range  of  Jebel  Garri  at  the 
Sixth  Cataract ;  and  the  left  bank  of  the  Nile  south  of  Khartum. 
They  are  thus  much  scattered,  and  everywhere  they  have  the 
same  reputation  as  robbers;  they  have  blood  feuds  with  the 


Nile  Valley,  North  of  Kharttim.  19 

Sowarab  and  Hauwawfr,  but  intermarry  with  the  Monassir.  The 
Sheikh  of  the  northern  section,  Wad  el  Fezari,  lives  at  Bir  Ghirir, 
near  the  Merawi-Shendi  Eoad. 

The  Ghubusli,  a  small  settlement  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Nile 
opposite  Berber,  are  all  fakirs,  or  religious  men.  They  are  an 
offshoot  from  the  Bedayriah,  and  came  originally  from  Kordofan. 
They  were  allowed  a  subsidy  by  Muhammad  Ali,  and  afterwards 
by  the  Egyptian  Government,  but  they  all  joined  the  Mahdi, 
and  one  of  their  number,  Muhammad  el  Kheir,  became  Emir  of 
Berber  after  it  fell. 

The  Meyrifdb,  a  small  semi-nomad  tribe  on  the  right  bank 
near  Berber,  are  of  doubtful  origin.  They  speak  Arabic,  and  are 
sometimes  classed  as  Ja'alin,  but  the  Ja'alin  repudiate  them ; 
their  name  does  not  seem  to  come  from  an  Arabic  root,  and  it 
seems  a  question  whether  they  are  not  of  Bija  origin.  It  is  said 
that,  contrary  to  Arab  custom,  they  never  marry  slaves. 

The  Awadiyeli  and  Fadniyeh  are  two  small  nomad  tribes 
of  pure  Arab  blood,  living  in  the  desert  between  the  wells  of 
Jakdiil  and  Matammeh ;  they  are  often  incorrectly  classed  as 
Ja'alin,  but  do  not  belong  to  that  tribe;  the  former  is  more 
nearly  allied  to  the  Eobatab.  They  have  large  numbers  of  horses 
and  cattle  but  no  sakiehs  ;  the  horses  are  of  the  celebrated  black 
Dongola  breed,  and  some  mounted  men  of  the  former  tribe 
charged  one  side  of  the  square  at  Abu  Klea  with  much  spirit. 
The  Sheikh  of  the  Awadiyeh  is  Beslrir  Wad  ed  Dabba,  and  of 
the  Fadniyeh,  Muhammad  Wad  el  Feki  ez  Zein. 

The  Battakhin  occupy  the  banks  of  the  Blue  Nile  near  Khar- 
tum ;  and  it  was  with  them  that  General  Gordon  fought  most  of 
his  battles  near  Khartum.  Their  Sheikh,  El  Obeid,  inflicted  the 
crushing  defeat  on  General  Gordon's  troops  on  the  4th  Sep- 
tember, 1884,  which  was  the  proximate  cause  of  the  journey  of 
Colonel  Stewart  and  the  consuls,  and  which  virtually  sealed  the 
fate  of  Khartum.  Bruce  calls  them  "  a  thieving,  pilfering  set," 
but  none  of  them  were  met  with  by  the  Nile  Expedition,  and  I 
can  only  suggest  that  they  are  like  the  Ja'alin,  of  mixed  Arab 
and  Nuba  descent. 

The  SJvukrCyeh  is  a  large  tribe  of  nomads  between  the  Atbara 
and  the  Blue  Nile ;  the  name  is  of  Arab  formation,  but  nothing 
is  known  of  the  history  of  the  tribe.  They  remained  neutral 
under  their  Sheikh,  Muhammad  Aud  el  Kerim,  and  have  always 
held  aloof  from  the  Mahdi  and  the  western  Arabs. 

The  Baggarah  tribes  of  Kordofan,  so  called  from  their  being 
great  cattle  owners  and  breeders,  are  true  nomad  Arabs;  they 
have  intermarried  little  with  the  Nuba,  and  have  preserved  most 
of  their  national  characteristics.  The  date  of  their  appearance 
in  the  Sudan  is  uncertain ;  they  appear  to  have  drifted  up  the 

c  2 


20  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

Nile  Valley  and  to  have  dispossessed  the  original  Nuba  popula- 
tion and  driven  it  to  the  hills.  The  Dughaim  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Nile  between  Assiiit  and  Assuan 
in  the  14th  century,  and  the  Jeheineh  in  Upper  Egypt  in  the 
15th  century;  of  the  other  tribes  we  have  no  record.  The  true 
Baggarah  tribes  use  oxen  for  saddle  and  pack  animals;  they  carry 
no  shield,  and  their  arms  are  the  lance  and  the  sword.  The 
men  are  perfect  types  of  physical  beauty,  with  fine  heads,  erect 
athletic  bodies,  and  sinewy  limbs  ;  they  are  hunters  and  warriors, 
and  are  much  superior  to  the  indigenous  races  in  mental  power. 
They  constituted  the  real  fighting  force  of  the  Mahdi,  and  charged 
the  English  squares  at  Abu  Klea  and  Gubat  with  the  greatest 
determination.  It  was  these  tribes  that  destroyed  Hicks'  army, 
captured  Obeid,  and  inflicted  most  of  the  defeats  on  the  Egyptian 
Army  ;  and  their  decision  to  follow  the  Mahdi  out  of  their  own 
country  to  Khartum  caused  the  fall  of  that  place.  The  Baggarah 
have  never  been  properly  studied,  and  even  the  names  of  the 
tribes  are  uncertain  ;  those  best  known  are  : — 

Hawazma  or  Hawazim. — South  of  Obeid.     Sh.  Nawwai. 

Kenana. — South-west  of  Abu  Haraz ;  fought  at  Abu  Klea 
and  were  almost  annihilated ;  in  1821  they  were  south  of 
Sennar. 

Dughaim. — Borders  of  Darfiir ;  lost  heavily  at  Abu  Klea. 

Habanieh. 

Beni  Jerar. — South-west  of  Khartum.  Sh.  Ibrahim  Wad  el 
Melia. 

Mahalia. 

Bedayriah. — North-north-west  of  Obeid. 

Hadiyat. 

Bizegat. — South-east  of  Dara. 

Hamr. — West  of  Obeid,  are  really  not  Baggarah,  as  they  own 
large  herds  of  camels,  and  used  to  be  carriers  of  goods  between 
Darfiir  and  Obeid.  They  have  a  blood  feud  with  th  e  Kabbabish. 

Jawamiah. — Lost  many  men  at  El  Gubat. 

Jalidat. 

Majanin. 

Fedayan. 

Howara. — Sh.  Abdul  Kadi  Abu  Hasneh. 

Ta'aysheh. — Darfiir.  Sh.  Abdullah  of  this  tribe  succeeded 
the  Mahdi,  and  appears  to  be  one  of  the  most  energetic  of  the 
Arab  leaders. 

Jeheineh. — Darfiir ;  were  in  Upper  Egypt  in  Macrizi's  time, 
beginning  of  15th  century.  A  branch  of  the  tribe,  the  Kufye  or 
Eifaa  is  south  of  Sennar. 

Ma'ali. 

Jamah. 


Nile  Valley,  North  of  Kliarttim.  21 

III.— NUba. 

The  old  Arab  geographers  divided  the  Niiba  country  into 
Meiys,  Baku,  and  Aloa.1  Merys  apparently  extended  from 
Assuan  to  the  head  of  the  cataracts  at  Hannek ;  Baku  was  the 
Dongola  district,  and  Aloa  was  the  Sennar  kingdom,  of  which  the 
dependencies  reached  down  to  the  borders  of  Dongola.  Selim 
el  Assiiani,  as  quoted  by  Macrizi,  gives  some  interesting  details 
of  these  countries ;  Merys,  in  which  the  Merysy  language  was 
spoken,  was  governed  by  a  governor  called  the  "  Lord  of  the 
Mountain,"  who  was  appointed  by  the  great  chief  of  the  Nuba. 
Near  Berber  there  was  a  Bija  tribe,  Zenafej,  which  had  its  own 
language,  and  did  not  intermarry  with  the  Nuba,  but  which 
received  a  chief  appointed  by  the  Nuba.  On  the  Atbara,  how- 
ever, the  Nuba  and  Bija  intermarried  and  were  called  Deyhiin 
and  Nara.  The  king  of  Aloa  resided  at  Souba,  of  which  the 
ruins  exist  at  Soba  on  the  Blue  Nile ;  he  wore  a  gold  crown,  had 
a  large  army,  and  was  possessed  of  much  power.  The  people  he 
ruled  over  were  Christians,  whose  bishops  were  nominated  by 
the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria ;  their  books  were  in  Greek,  which 
they  translated  into  their  own  language,  and  they  had  many 
churches.2  I  have  mentioned  these  details  chiefly  to  show  that 
for  several  centuries  there  was  a  compact  and  strong  Christian 
kingdom  in  the  Sudan,  founded  and  administered  by  Niibas, 
and  also  as  tending  to  show  that  the  Arab  domination  in  Sennar 
must  have  been  very  brief,  for  the  new  Nuba  kingdom  was 
founded  there  early  in  the  16th  century.  The  Nuba  are  an 
essentially  agricultural  people,  and,  as  far  as  we  know,  indigenous 
to  the  country.3  They  form  the  basis  of  the  population  of  the 
Nile  Valley  from  Assuan  to  Korti,  and  are  widely  spread  over 
Kordofan,  Darfiir,  and  Sennar.  Between  Assuan  and  Korti,  the 
terms  Nuba  and  Bija  are  still  in  use  to  distinguish  the  Eotana 
from  the  To-Bedawiet  speaking  people.  Eotana,  the  name  used 
to  distinguish  the  Nuba  language,  has  passed  into  Sudan  Arabic 
as  a  verb,  and  the  people  use  it  in  the  sense  of  "  to  rotan  "  in 
Turkish,  English,  &c.  The  Nuba  of  the  Nile  Valley  are  divided 
into  three  sections — the  Kemis,  Mahass,  and  Danaglas,  all 
speaking  Rotana  with  certain  dialectic  differences ;  the  dialects 
of  the  first  and  last  agree  more  nearly  with  each  other  than  they 
do  with  that  of  Mahass :  and  this  last  again  more  nearly  ap- 

1  See  note,  p.  4. 

2  There  is  also  a  rjcord  of  an  important  Nuba  embassy  which  was  sent  in 
great  state  to  Baghdad  by  the  Nuba  king  Zakarya  ibn  Bahnas,  under  his  son 
Fayrakeh. 

3  Selim  el  Assuani  eays  that  Salba,  the  forefather  of  the  Nubas,  and  Mokry  cf 
the  Mokras,  came  from  Yemen,  and  were  descended  from  Hemyar ;  also  that  the 
Nubas  and  Mokras  spoke  different  languages.     The  present  representatives  oJ; 
the  Mokras  are  not  known. 


22  SIR  C.  W.  WILSON.— On  the  Tribes  of  the 

preaches  the  language  of  the  Nuba  of  Kordofan,  who  represent 
the  original  stock. 

The  Keniis  apparently  take  their  name  from  the  Beni  Kens,1 
a  branch  of  the  Eabya  tribe  which  entered  Egypt  with  Amr, 
and  took  part  in  the  conquest ;  some  of  the  Aleykat  also  settled 
in  the  Keniis  district,  which  extends  from  Assuan  to  Wady 
Haifa ;  and  so  also  did  the  Bosniacs  who  came  up  the  river 
during  Sultan  Selim's  reign,  and  many  Turks  and  Albanians 
since  that  time.  In  several  villages  the  large  admixture  of 
foreign  blood  has  greatly  modified  the  Nuba  type,  but  in  manner 
and  habit  the  people  are  still  Nuba.  The  Mahdi  was  descended 
from  a  Beni  Kens  family  which  emigrated  two  or  three  genera- 
tions ago  to  Dongola  ;  he  hence  claimed  descent  from  the  Koreish 
tribe,  but  in  feature  and  colour  his  family  could  not  be  distin- 
guished from  the  surrounding  Nuba. 

The  Mahass,  who  claim  descent  from  the  Koreish  are  really  of 
purer  Nuba  blood  than  the  Keniis  and  Danaglas  ;  the  reason  of 
this  seems  to  be  that  until  the  recent  operations  all  traffic,  or 
nearly  all,  up  the  Nile  went  by  the  left  bank  and  hardly  touched 
Mahass.  The  Mahass  repudiate  all  relationship  with  the  Keniis 
and  the  Danaglas,  but  on  the  other  hand  they  claim  kinship 
with  the  Ja'alin,  and  I  heard  from  other  sources  of  a  Mahass 
settlement  in  the  Ja'alin  country  not  far  north  of  Khartum. 
The  Mahass  never  marry  slave  girls  as  the  Keniis  and  the 
Danaglas  do,  and  this  has  also  tended  to  keep  their  blood 
pure. 

The  Danaglas  or  Dongolese  were,  before  the  Memliik  invasion, 
always  governed  by  the  Zubeir  family,  of  which  the  present 
representative  is  Tombol  ibn  Zubeir,  the  Melik  of  Argo,  and 
were  tributary  to  Sennar.  They  have  a  large  admixture  of  Arab, 
Turk,  and  slave  blood,  but  except  in  Ordeh,  where  Eotana  is  not 
spoken,  they  are  Nuba  in  type  and  language.  The  Danaglas 
are  great  agriculturists,  and  they  have  followed  the  Egyptians 
to  various  places  in  Kordofan,  such  as  Bara,  which,  by  their 
skill  in  irrigation,  they  have  turned  into  fertile  oases.  They  are 
also  acute  and  intelligent  traders,  and  the  most  pertinacious  and 
active  of  slave  hunters  and  slave  dealers.  Egyptian  misgovern- 
ment  and  over-taxation  having  ruined  the  country  and  forced 
a  large  portion  of  the  agricultural  population  to  leave,  their 
place  has  partially  been  supplied  by  slave  labour,  and  it  is  cal- 
culated that  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  population  of  the  Dongola 
province  is  slave. 

To  the  Nuba  race  belong  the  Ghodyat  and  other  tribes  that 
form  the  mass  of  the  agricultural  population  of  Kordofan ;  the 

1  The  Beni  Kens  are  said  to  have  first  conquered  Dongola  and  built  a  mosque 
there. 


Nile  Valley,  North  of  Kliartum.  23 

Kungara  of  Darfiir ;  and  I  believe  the  sedentary  population  of 
Sennar.  Eacial  purity  is,  however,  best  preserved  by  the  tribes 
of  Jebel  Daier,  J.  Takalla,  and  Dar  Nuba.  In  these  mountain 
fastnesses  the  Nuba  have  maintained  their  independence  against 
Arab  and  Egyptian,  and  on  the  terraced  hill- sides  they  have 
grown  sufficient  corn  for  their  simple  wants.  During  the 
supremacy  of  the  Funnlyeh  kings  of  Sennar,  when  the  Arab 
tribes  were  kept  under  control  by  an  army  of  negroes,  the  Nuba 
had  greater  freedom  of  movement,  and  there  is  a  Nuba  settle- 
ment between  Debbeh  and  Abu  Gussi,  which  only  established 
itself  on  the  Nile  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century. 

The  Nuba  are  lighter  than  the  Negro,  and  darker  than  the 
Arab ;  their  noses  are  less  flat,  their  lips  less  thick,  their  cheek 
bones  less  projecting  than  the  negroes ;  and  their  hair  is  not 
woolly  but  curled  and  wiry.  The  character  of  the  Nuba,  and 
their  habits  have  been  pictured  by  a  master  hand,  that  of  Burck- 
hardt,  and  I  need  say  no  more  than  that  I  agree  with  him  that 
they  are  "  a  people  of  frolic,  folly,  and  levity ;  avaricious,  trea- 
cherous, and  malicious  ;  ignorant  and  base  ;  and  full  of  wicked- 
ness and  lechery." 

Explanation  of  Plate  I. 

Sketch-map,  shewing  the  distribution  of  the  tribes  in  the  Nile 
Valley,  north  of  Khartum. 

DISCUSSION. 

MAJOR  C.  M.  WATSON,  R.E.,  said  that  he  could  add  but  little  to  the 
very  interesting  paper  which  Sir  C.  Wilson  had  read,  and  which 
contained  so  much  information  with  regard  to  the  various  tribes  in 
the  Eastern  Sudan.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  there  have  been  two 
distinct  lines  of  immigration  from  the  East  into  the  Nile  Valley,  the 
one  by  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  and  the  other  across  the  Bed 
Sea  from  the  Arabian  coast.  So  far  as  one  can  judge,  the  former 
was  the  most  ancient  route,  and  the  Ababdeh  Arabs,  whose  ances- 
tors probably  came  that  way  were  in  the  country  long  before  the 
Amarars,  Hadendoa,  and  Beni  Amer,  who  regard  themselves  as 
having  crossed  at  a  comparatively  recent  period.  The  two  former 
tribes  speak  the  Tobedawi,  or,  as  they  call  it  themselves,  the  Bedy 
language,  while  the  Beni  Amer  talk  a  dialect  akin  to  Tigre.  This 
seems  natural  when  it  is  remembered  that  before  the  Turkish  con- 
quest of  the  Red  Sea  Coast,  the  Abyssinian  kingdom,  or,  at  all 
events,  the  Abyssinian  suzerainty  extended  as  far  north  as  Suakin. 
Pilgrims  from  Abyssinia  to  Jerusalem  used,  at  that  time,  to  be 
escorted  by  Abyssinian  troops  to  Suakia,  where  they  took  an  Arab 
escort,  who  conducted  them  across  the  Bisharin  mountains  to  the 
Nile. 


24  Disciission. 

The  Morghani  family,  of  whom  Sir  C.  Wilson  spoke,  are  well 
worthy  of  notice.  They  believe  themselves  to  have  originally 
come  from  Bokhara,  and  certainly  the  leading  members  are 
decidedly  Mongol  in  appearance.  The  family  is  the  head  of  the 
great  Morghani  sect,  which  has  up  to  the  present  exerted  so 
powerful  an  influence  throughout  the  Sudan,  an  influence  which  in 
the  late  troubles  was  always  exerted  against  the  rebellion  and  in 
favour  of  peace.  The  late  Seyid  Osman  El  Morghani  did  all  that 
lay  in  his  power  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  rebellion  in  the 
vicinity  of  Kassala,  and  his  two  sisters,  who  lived  at  Shendy,  did 
all  they  could  to  assist  General  Gordon.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  and 
is  a  proof  of  the  influence  of  Morghanis  that  although  these  two 
ladies  have  always  been  openly  opposed  to  the  Mahdi  and  lived  in 
a  district  in  which  most  of  the  inhabitants  joined  his  cause,  yet  they 
have  been  respected  and  uninjured  up  to  the  present  time.  The 
conduct  of  the  Morghani  sect  compares  favourably  with  that  of 
the  Senoussi  to  whom  Sir  C.  Wilson  also  alluded  as  having  so 
much  influence  in  the  northern  parts  of  Africa  and  who  have 
positions  of  influence  on  the  roads  leading  from  Tripoli,  Tunis, 
and  Algiers  to  the  interior.  The  Senoussi  are  very  fanatical,  and 
are  strongly  opposed  both  to  Christians  and  to  Turks,  whom  they 
appear  to  regard  as  debased  followers  of  Islam.  As  all  accounts 
tend  to  show  that  the  sect  of  the  Senoussi  is  spreading  and  its 
influence  is  increasing,  we  shall  probably  hear  more  of  them 
later  on. 

CAPTAIN  C.  B.  CONDEE,  B.E.,  remarked  that  it  would  be  presump- 
tion on  his  part  to  say  anything  much  after  the  exhaustive  and 
valuable  paper  just  read,  since  he  had  served  only  in  Lower  Egypt 
and  had  no  special  knowledge  of  the  Sudan  tribes.  Two  points, 
however,  struck  him  in  the  paper,  and  one  point  in  Major 
Watson's  speech. 

The  practice  among  the  Nuba  tribes  of  tracing  descent  from  the 
mother,  recalls  the  ancient  practice  of  Arabia  on  which  Professor 
Robertson  Smith  has  written  a  learned  work  and  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  connected  with  primitive  polyandry.  It  has  always 
seemed  to  the  speaker  that  there  was  no  evidence  that  these  two 
customs  ever  prevailed  among  Semitic  peoples ;  and  that  the  poly- 
androus  people  mentioned  by  Strabo  in  Southern  Arabia,  must 
probably  like  the  Nuba,  have  belonged  to  a  Hamitic  or  Cushite  race, 
akin  perhaps  to  the  non-Semitic  Cossai  or  Cutheans  of  Elam, 
whose  name  is  said  to  mean  "dark,"  and  whose  coloured  representa- 
tion as  a  dark,  straight-haired  race  has  been  discovered  it  is  said  on 
bas  reliefs  by  M.  Dieulafoy  at  Susa.  This  dark  race  called  the 
Aithiops  of  Asia,  by  Herodotus  (who  says  they  differed  from  the 
Ethiopians  of  Africa,  in  having  straight  instead  of  curly  hair)  was 
perhaps  distantly  connected  with  the  Akkadians  and  with  the 
Hittites,  and  according  to  Lenormant  with  the  Dravidians  of  India. 
Is  it  not  possible  that  the  Nuba  may  be  a  branch  of  this  race, 
which  crossed  over,  as  the  Arabs  also  did,  from  Southern  Arabia 


Discussion.  25 

into  the  Sudan  ?  We  have  much  evidence  of  such  migration  from 
Arabia,  not  only  in  the  traditions  of  the  tribes,  or  in  history,  but 
also  in  the  derivation  of  the  Amharic  and  .^Ethiopic  alphabets  from 
the  old  alphabet  of  Yemen. 

The  second  point  concerns  the  name  of  the  Jahalin.  Sir  C. 
Wilson  will  remember  that  there  is  a  tribe  so  called  in  Southern 
Palestine,  between  Beersheba  and  the  Dead  Sea,  and  while  in- 
vestigating the  meaning  of  the  word,  Captain  Conder  found  it  was 
connected  with  Jahl  "  ignorant  "  or  "  simple,"  a  term  used  by 
Moslems  to  signify  those  who  lived  before  Islam,  and  who  were 
"  ignorant "  of  the  truth.  Possibly  the  name  shows  that  the 
Jahalin  are  an  archaic  people,  who  were  so  named  by  Moslem 
Arabs  at  a  time  when  they  themselves  were  non-Moslems,  just  as 
Kafir  (Caffre)  is  an  Arab  name  for  the  Bantu  peoples  of  South 
Africa,  signifying  "  Pagans,"  and  not  a  real  ethnical  title.1 

Major  Watson  mentioned  that  the  Morghani  family  came  from 
Bokhara.  This  is  the  centre  from  which  many  of  the  secret 
Moslem  societies  (Dervish  orders)  have  spread ;  as  for  instance,  the 
Bektashi.  The  freemasonry  of  the  Dervish  orders  is  well  known, 
and  the  Morghani  influence  appears  to  show  that  they  form  such  a 
religious  order,  although  they  are  not  one  of  the  "  regular  "  orders, 
of  which  there  are  more  than  forty.  The  influence  of  these  orders 
if  properly  used  might  be  made  one  of  the  best  resources  of 
sympathetic  native  government  in  the  East. 

Mr.  BouvERiE-PusEY  and  the  PRESIDENT  also  joined  in  the  dis- 
cussion. 

Sir  CHARLES  WILSON  said  in  reply  that  he  could  not  agree  with 
Major  Watson  that  the  To-Bedawiet  speaking  tribes  were  Arab 
(Semitic),  though  they  have  many  Arab  customs,  common  to  all 
nomads,  and  the  Sheikh  families  are  of  Arab  origin.  They  may, 
however,  have  belonged  to  a  Hamitic  race  in  Southern  Arabia, 
and  have,  as  Captain  Conder  suggests,  emigrated  thence  to  the 
Sudan.  With  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  name  Ja'alin,  that  which 
the  author  had  given,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Van  Dyck,  who  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  tribes  of  Palestine,  and  the  peculiarities 
of  Syrian  Arabic,  was  he  thought  correct. 


1  Is  not  Bedu  or  fobedawi,  the  language  of  the  "desert"  (as  the  words  in 
Arabic  would  imply),  showing  that  it  is  the  tongue  of  the  dwellers  in  the  desert 
as  distinguished  from  the  Arabic  of  the  towns  and  of  the  settled  country  ? 


26  PROF.  D.  FERRIEH. — On  the  Functional 

FEBRUARY  22ND,  1887. 

FRANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 

The  election  of  JOSEPH  STRAKER,  Esq.,  LL.B.,  of  10,  King's 
Bench  Walk,  Temple,  was  announced. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors  : — 

FOR  THE  LIBRARY. 

From  DR.  G.  A.  COLINI. — Cronaca  del  Museo  Preistorico  ed  Etno- 

grafico  di  Roma.     1884,  5,  6. 
From  the  AUTHOR. — Report  on  the  Human  Crania  and  other  bones 

of   the    Skeletons  collected    during    the  voyage    of    H.M.S. 

"  Challenger,"  in  the  years  1873-1876.      By  William  Turner, 

M.B.,  LL.D. 
The  Physical  Anthropology  of  the  Isle  of  Man.      By  John 

Beddoe,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 

Le  antiche   stazioni   umane  dei  dintorni  di  Cracovia   e   del 

comune  di  Breonio  Veronese.     Nota  del  L.  Pigorini. 
From   the    ACADEMY. — Atti    della  Reale  Accademia    dei    Lincei. 

1885-86.     Rendiconti.     Vol.  II.     Fas.  12. 
From    the   BATAVIAASCH  GENOOTSCHAP   VAN   KUNSTEN  EN   WETEN- 

SCHAPPEN. — De  vestiging  van  het  Nederlandsche  Gezag  over  de 

Banda-eilanden. 

Realia.     Deel  III. 

From  the  EDITOR.     Nature.     Nos.  902-903. 

Science.     Nos.  208-210. 

Photographic  Times.     Nos.  281-2. 

Revue  d'Ethnographie.     1886.     No.  5. 

L'Homme.     1886.     No.  23. 


Professor  FERRIER  delivered  a  verbal  address  of  which  the 
following  is  an  abstract : — 

On  the  FUNCTIONAL  TOPOGRAPHY  of  the  BRAIN. 
By  Professor  D.  FERRIER,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 

DR.  FERRIER  opened  a  discussion  011  the  question,  How  far 
recent  investigations  on  the  functional  topography  of  the  brain 
could  be  brought  in  relation  with  craniological  and  anthro- 
pological researches  with  a  view  to  establish  the  foundations  of  a 
scientific  phrenology  ?  The  subject  seemed  to  him  to  fall 
naturally  under  three  heads  : 


Topography  of  the  Brain.  27 

1.  How  far  can  we  yet  speak  of  a  functional  topography  or 

localisation  of  function  in  the  brain  as  having  been 
established  ? 

2.  How  far  is  it  possible  by  anatomical  investigation  of  the 

brain  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  powers  or  capacities 
of  the  individual  ? 

3.  How  far  can  we  arrive  at  the  same  result  by  examination 

of  the  cranium  of  head  of  the  individual  ? 

In  respect  to  the  first  head,  he  said  it  was  now  almost  universally 
accepted — in  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  Flourens — that  there 
were  definite  regions  of  the  brain  specially,  if  not  exclusively, 
concerned  with  specific  functions  in  the  domain  of  motion  or 
sensation.  He  then  proceeded  to  describe  the  position  of  the 
various  centres  of  sensation  and  motion  according  to  the  lines 
laid  down  in  his  work  on  the  "Functions  of  the  Brain  "  (1886). 
But  only  one  of  the  aspects  of  brain  function,  viz.,  the  physio- 
logical, had  been  determined.  The  other,  or  psychological 
aspect,  the  correlations  between  the  physiological  and  psycho- 
logical, and  the  anatomical  substrata  of  the  brain,  were  yet  far 
from  being  clear.  And  yet  until  these  correlations  were  definitely 
established,  we  could  not  consider  a  practical  flesh-and-blood 
psychology  applicable  to  the  needs  of  the  physician  or  anthro- 
pologist as  having  any  existence. 

The  phenomena  of  disease,  specially  those  relating  to  aphasia, 
indicated  that  the  sensory  and  motor  centres,  besides  being  the 
medium  of  sensation  and  voluntary  motion.,  were  also  the 
centres  of  registration  and  reproduction  of  our  conscious  expe- 
rience and  motor  acquisitions ;  and  of  these  in  their  respective 
cohesions  and  accompaniments,  the  fabric  of  mind  was  to  be 
constructed. 

Passing  to  the  second  head,  he  remarked  that  the  determination 
of  functional  capacity  from  anatomical  investigation  of  the  brain 
involved  many  considerations  and  difficulties.  Mere  size  of  parts 
could  not  be  considered  a  satisfactory  criterion.  We  require  to 
know  something  respecting  the  size  of  the  individual,  and  the 
relation  of  brain  to  the  sectional  area  of  the  nerves  with  which 
it  was  connected.  We  require  to  know,  also,  something  as  to  the 
activity  of  the  circulation  and  tissue  change.  And  above  all,  we 
require  to  know  much  respecting  the  structure  of  the  grey  matter, 
its  cells,  processes,  &c.  Supposing  all  these  points  determined, 
then  we  might  say  that  there  is  a  relation  between  the  size  of  a 
given  region  and  the  function  with  which  it  is  related.  He 
illustrated  this  point  by  reference  to  the  facts  of  comparative 
anatomy,  more  particularly  as  regards  the  sense  of  smell,  and 
also  by  local  atrophies  induced  by  congenital  absence  or  early 


28  Discussion. 

removal  of  organs  of  sense  and  motion.  And  he  then  went  on 
to  consider,  in  detail,  what  might  be  indicated  in  a  physiological 
and  psychological  view  by  relatively  high  development  of 
particular  regions.  As  to  the  frontal  lobes,  he  expressed  his 
belief  that  they  were  related  to  the  higher  intellectual  faculties 
by  forming  the  substrata  of  attention. 

On  the  third  head,  he  remarked  that  the  difficulties  as  to  the 
determination  of  capacity  were  greater  than  those  involved 
under  the  second  head.  For  though  the  skull  might  be  con- 
sidered as  a  mould  of  the  brain,  yet  it  was  impossible  to 
determine  from  the  skull  alone,  whether  the  brain  were  sound 
or  not;  and  all  the  finer  complexities  of  convolution  and  details 
of  structure  were  beyond  our  ken.  Mere  obvious  differences 
in  size  of  different  lobes  and  regions  were  all  that  could  be 
made  out  by  craniological  examination.  That  great  differences 
did  exist  there  was  no  doubt,  and  he  instanced  cases  of  idiocy 
and  infantile  cerebral  disease  in  which  marked  abnormalities  and 
asymmetries  of  the  skull  were  very  evident,  and  confirmatory  of 
the  conclusions  as  to  the  localisation  of  function  otherwise 
determined. 

In  determining  the  greater  or  less  degree  of  development  of 
particular  regions,  they  had  as  their  guide  the  cranio-cerebral 
researches  of  Broca,  Turner,  and  others.  Whether  these  were  as 
yet  fine  enough  for  the  anthropologist,  though  perhaps  sufficient 
for  the  surgeon,  might,  however,  be  questioned. 

He  described  by  reference  to  diagrams  what  had  been  deter- 
mined in  respect  to  the  position  of  the  main  lobes,  fissures  and 
convolutions.  In  conclusion,  he  remarked  that  the  data  of  a 
scientific  phrenology  were,  as  yet,  very  deficient ;  but  there  was 
reason  to  believe  that  if  the  subject  were  taken  up  from 
different  points  of  view,  by  the  anatomist,  physiologist,  psycho- 
logist, and  anthropologist,  great  progress  might  be  made. 

DISCUSSION. 

The  following  notes  were  sent  by  Dr.  LAUDEE  BRUNTON,  F.R.S., 
subsequently  to  the  meeting  : — 

As  regards  the  possible  change  in  the  shape  of  the  skull  from 
development  of  the  different  centres,  it  seems  to  me  that  if  a 
cortical  centre  expands  in  all  directions,  the  number  of  cells  in  the 
longitudinal  direction  being  much  greater  than  in  the  transverse 
direction,  the  actual  longitudinal  increase  will  be  much  greater 
than  the  transverse,  the  proportional  increase  to  the  original  size 
being  the  same.  The  development  of  the  visual  centre  will  thus 
tend  to  raise  the  vertex  and  elongate  the  head  from  above  down- 
wards, while  the  development  of  the  auditory  centre  will  tend  to 
push  the  occiput  backwards,  and  elongate  the  head  in  an  antero' 


Discussion. 


29 


posterior  direction.1  Whether  the  development  of  the  tactile  centre 
will  render  the  head  broader  or  not  I  could  not  be  sure,  but  it  seems 
to  me  that  this  is  just  possible.  I  have  tried  by  the  accompanying 
diagram  to  make  my  meaning  more  clear. 


DIAGUAM   OF    BEA1N 

Showing  how  an  increase  in  the  visual  or  in  the  auditory  centre  might  change 
the  shape  of  the  skull. 

¥.  E. — The  fissure  of  Eolando. 
F.  S.— The  fissure  of  Silvius. 
a. — The  visual  centre. 
b. — The  auditory  centre. 
A. — Dotted  line,  showing  how  an  increase  of  a  might  change  the  shape  of 

the  skull. 
B. — Broken  line,  showing  effect  of  increase  of  b. 

I  think  one  may  with  advantage  take  into  account  that  through- 
out the  animal  kingdom  generally,  or  at  least  among  mammalia 
generally,  the  part  of  the  male  is  to  go  out  and  find  food  for  the 
family,  while  that  of  the  female  is  to  rear  the  young  ones. 
Corresponding  with  the  different  division  of  labour  between  the 
male  and  female  we  may  expect  to  find  a  different  distribution 
of  qualities,  and  consequently  a  different  development  of  the 
centres  in  the  brain.  The  duties  of  the  male  require  development 
of  motor  power  rather  than  of  sensory ;  those  of  the  female 
require  sensation,  and  what  may  be  regarded  as  based  upon 
sensation,  emotion  rather  than  motor  power.  I  do  not  know 
whether  in  mammals  generally  we  find  greater  development  of  the 
motor  centres  as  compared  with  the  sensory  in  the  male,  and  of 
the  sensory  as  compared  with  the  motor  in  the  female.  I  think, 
however,  that  this  is  the  case  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  human  race, 
and  that  if  we  compare  the  skull  of  a  man  with  that  of  a  woman  we 

1  These  ideas  do  not  appear,  however,  to  be  well  supported  by  a  case  which 
Benedict  ("  Neurologisches  Centralblatt,"  1886,  No.  10)  records  of  congenital 
blindness  in  which  the  ejes  were  healthy  and  the  blindness  probably  depended 
on  imperfect  development  of  the  cerebral  centres  for  vision.  The  occiput  in  this 
case  was  abnormally  flat. 


30  Discussion. 

find  that  the  former  is  more  largely  developed  anteriorly,  and  the 
latter  posteriorly. 

Dr.  RAYNEB  remarked  that  one  great  difficulty  in  arriving  at  an 
estimate  of  the  mental  powers  and  characteristics  of  individuals 
from  an  external  examination  of  the  head,  arose  from  the  great 
diversities  of  shape  in  disease,  and  even  in  apparent  health ;  a 
skull  which  the  speaker  had  a  recent  opportunity  of  examining 
was  enormously  scapho-cephalic,  apparently  from  premature  arrest 
of  development  of  the  frontal  bone ;  in  that  case  the  relations  of 
the  subjacent  brain  to  its  bone  covering  would  have  been  very 
different  from  that  which  usually  attains.  In  spite  of  this  and 
other  difficulties,  he  believes  that  it  would  be  ultimately  possible  to 
arrive  by  external  examination  at  a  conclusion,  in  the  majority 
of  instances,  in  regard  to  the  mental  characteristics  of  an  in- 
dividual. 

Sir  JAMES  CRICHTON  BROWNE,  Mr.  BOUVKRIE-PUSEY,  Prof. 
THAN.E,  Prof.  FLOWER,  and  the  PRESIDENT  also  took  part  in  the 
discussion. 

Mr.  HYDE  CLARKE  not  having  the  opportunity  of  speaking  at  the 
close,  said  he  should  put  his  communication  in  writing.  He  supported 
Professor  Ferrier's  doctrine,  that  energy  or  rapidity  of  thought  is  an 
important  factor,  and  referred  to  the  result  of  his  own  experiment 
of  fifty  years  ago,  recorded  in  the  "  Journal  of  the  British 
Association,"  1870,  and  in  that  of  the  Statistical  Society.1  In  con- 
firmation of  the  Professor's  statement  that  the  range  in  the  same 
individual  may  greatly  vary,  he  points  out  that  in  this  case  the 
difference  (p.  359)  was  25  or  100,  or  between  1  and  4  in  the  same 
individual  within  ten  days.  With  regard  to  the  Professor's 
deductions  as  to  men  and  animals  in  the  matter  of  speech  language, 
and  particularly  as  to  aphasia  in  men  and  non-imitation  of  speech 
by  animals,  the  attention  of  the  Professor  was  called  to  the  origin 
and  position  of  speech  language.  His  postulate  was  that  speech 
language  is  a  natural  and  original  attribute  of  man.  If,  however, 
there  had  been  an  epoch  of  gesture  or  sign  language  antecedent  to 
the  origin  and  development  of  speech  language,  then  the  latter 
could  not  be  regarded  as  primary.  The  state  of  gesture  language 
was  gone  through  by  most  infants,  and  in  some  cases,  though  able 
to  articulate,  they  remained  in  this  state  of  mutes  until  five,  six,  or 
seven  vears  old.  They  would  understand,  as  many  a  dog  does, 
words  addressed  to  them,  but  would  not  communicate  by  speech 
even  with  their  speaking  brothers  and  sisters. 

His  own  observations  upon  the  mutes  of  the  Seraglio,  at  Con- 
stantinople, and  upon  other  examples  of  gesture  language  showed 
him  that  within  its  limits,  gesture  competed  well  with  speech,  and 
he  considered  that  the  gesture  of  the  mutes  was  quite  equal  to 
ordinary  spoken  Chinese  for  communication.  The  development  of 
the  faculty  of  speech  might  lead  to  a  greater  development  of  the 

1  1871,  page  359, 


Discussion.  31 

nerve  organs  of  speech  and  hearing,  while  psychologically  speech  in 
man  became  the  means  of  creating  a  greater  nnmber  of  verbal  and 
other  ideas  and  impressions.  In  gesture  language  hearing  counted 
for  very  little,  sight  being  used  instead.  Indeed  there  was  ample 
field  for  experiment.  It  was  difficult  to  conceive  that  animals  did  not 
speak  from  defect  of  attention,  as  deposed  by  the  Professor.  The 
cat  or  the  dog  exhibits  the  quality  of  attention  in  a  high  degree 
when  watching  for  prey.  Many  animals  are  imitative  of  others, 
as,  for  instance,  the  cat  in  imitation  of  the  dog.  That  animals 
communicate  to  some  extent  with  each  other  must  be  admitted, 
.but  the  subject  is  obscured  by  the  assumption  that  speech  must  be 
the  vehicle  of  communication.  In  the  case  of  the  two  trained 
French  pointers  that  were  exhibited  some  thirty  years  ago  before 
the  Fellows  of  the  Linnaean  Society,  when  the  Bishop  of  Norwich 
was  President,  their  extraordinary  performances  were  little  guided 
by  sound,  but  by  signs,  which  they  most  sagaciously  followed. 
Indeed,  in  the  training  of  all  performing  animals  direction  by  signs 
played  a  chief  part.  The  mind  of  such  animals  as  the  dog  must 
be  the  same  as  that  of  men,  and  of  the  same  types  psychologically, 
as  the  diagrams  of  the  Professor  showed  it  was  physiologically,  and 
the  conditions  depended  as  strictly  on  the  relative  development,  as 
distinctly  indeed  as  did  the  special  development  of  the  sense  of 
smell.  The  distinction  from  men  lay  in  that  development,  and  in  the 
registration  of  the  verbal  ideas  of  speech.  Hence  the  more  com- 
plex convolutions  and  details  of  the  brain  of  the  civilised  man. 
The  number  of  ideas  registered  or  impressed  did  not  depend  on 
conscious  thought,  but  also  on  unconscious  thought,  of  which  law 
he  himself  had  been  the  first  discoverer,  though  Dr.  W.  B. 
Carpenter  .obtained  prior  publication,  and  who  named  it  unconscious 
cerebration.  The  subject  of  registration  taken  in  hand  for  in- 
vestigation by  Professor  Ferrier  was  a  most  important  one,  and 
one  as  obscure  as  any  other  portion  of  the  subject,  and  it  might  be 
said  as  wonderful.  To  a  certain  extent  the  experiments  and  in- 
vestigations of  Professor  Graham  Bell  and  of  Professor  Hughes, 
as  to  the  physical  registration  of  sounds  had  of  late  years  prepared 
the  way  for  the  study  of  the  registration  of  ideas.  A  record  of 
sounds  could  be  made  to  reproduce  those  sounds,  whether  of 
speech  or  of  music,  at  a  later  and  distant  period.  He  much 
regretted  that  the  Anthropological  Institute  had  hitherto  taken 
so  small  a  part  in  investigations,  of  the  importance  and  value  of 
which  Professor  Ferrier  had  that  evening  given  convincing 
evidence.  He  regretted  that  the  section  for  comparative  psycho- 
logy, of  which  he  had  been  appointed  chairman  some  years  ago, 
had  not  been  allowed  to  act,  as  members  had  unfortunately  taken 
up  the  spiritualistic  practices,  to  which  Sir  Crichton  Browne  had 
referred.  What  was  wanted  was  observations  in  every  branch  of 
natural  history  on  man  and  animals,  for  the  animal  physiologically 
and  psychologically  often  supplied  better  illustrations  than  did  the 
human  being. 


32  H.  D.  EOLLESTON. — Description  of  the  Cerebral 

The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  author : — 

DESCRIPTION  of  the  CEREBRAL  HEMISPHERES  of  an  ADULT 
AUSTRALIAN  MALE. 

By   H.   D.   EOLLESTON,   B.A.,   Scholar  of  St.   John's   College, 
Cambridge,  Junior    Demonstrator   of    Physiology  in   the 

University. 

[WITH  PLATE  ii.] 

THIS  communication  is  divided  into  three  parts:  (1)  a  few 
general  remarks ;  (2)  a  detailed  summary  of  the  two  hemis- 
pheres together ;  and  (3)  a  description  of  the  two  hemispheres 
separately,  with  the  depths  of  the  fissures  and  sulci. 

General  Remarks. 

The  interest  attaching  to  the  study  and  examination  of  the 
brains  of  the  lower  races  of  mankind  is  briefly  summed  up  in 
the  phrase,  "  brain  as  an  organ  of  mind."  The  problems  that 
come  before  us  are  attractive,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  admit  of 
an  answer.  "What  material  differences  are  there  between  the 
brain  of  an  educated  moral  man  and  that  of  a  sensual,,  animal- 
like  savage  ?  What  correlation  is  there  between  the  physical 
conformation  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres  and  the  mental  develop- 
ment of  their  owner  ? 

This  brain  of  an  adult  male  Australian  is  of  interest,  then, 
from  its  being  that  of  a  primitive  man. 

The  Australian  came  to  the  hospital  at  Adelaide,  and  on  his 
death  from  peritonitis,  his  head  was  cut  off  and  despatched  in 
spirit  by  Professor  Watson  to  Professor  Macalister,  to  whose 
great  kindness  I  am  indebted  for  this  opportunity  of  describing 
such  an  interesting  brain. 

On  removing  the  brain  it  was  found  to  weigh  31  ounces.  A 
fresh  brain  if  weighed  before  and  after  lying  in  spirit  will  be 
found  to  lose  weight.  Therefore,  to  obtain  the  weight  in  the 
recent  condition,  a  certain  percentage  must  be  added  to  the 
actual  weight  of  a  brain  which  has  been  for  some  time  in  spirit. 
Marshall  ("Phil.  Trans.,"  1864)  adds  seven  twenty-fourths  (the 
mean  between  one-third  and  one-fourth)  of  the  weight  obtained, 
and  thus  obtains  the  probable  weight  in  the  recent  condition. 
Dr.  Thurnum  ("  Journal  of  Mental  Science,"  April,  1866)  allows 
29  per  cent,  for  shrinkage  in  spirit. 

The  Anthropological  Society  of  Paris  adds  38  per  cent,  of  the 
weight  of  the  brain,  and  this  result  is  more  likely  to  approximate 
to  the  truth,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  about  80  per  cent, 
of  the  weight  of  a  fresh  brain  is  due  to  water,  the  removal  of 


o 

c 


Hemispheres  of  an  Adult  Australian  Male.  33 

which  by  alcohol  accounts  for  the  greatly  shrunken  condition  of 
brains  preserved  in  spirit. 

Adding,  then,  38  per  cent,  of  the  actual  weight  (31  ounces), 
the  resulting  weight  of  43  ounces  may  be  taken  as  representing, 
with  a  fair  approach  to  accuracy,  the  weight  of  the  brain  at  the 
time  of  death. 

So  far  very  few  Australian  brains  have  been  weighed  :*  the 
average  of  six  was  found  to  be  41  ounces,  two  of  these  brains,  it 
should  be  noted,  are  those  of  females.1 

The  weight  of  the  brain  as  a  racial  character  is  a  subject 
which  has  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  as  the  result  of 
colossal  tables,  it  may  be  taken  that  the  average  European 
brain  weight  in  males  is  49  ounces,  the  average  weight  of  the 
negro  race  is  about  44'3  ounces,2  which  it  will  be  seen  is  in 
excess  of  that  of  the  primitive  Australian. 

The  age  of  the  Australian  was  unknown,  but  his  face,  which 
is  preserved  in  the  anatomical  museum  of  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  shows  no  sign  of  age,  but  appears  to  be  that  of  a  man 
about  the  prime  of  life. 

If  the  convolutions  of  this  Australian  brain  be  compared  with 
those  of  an  average  European  brain  the  simplicity  of  the  former 
is  at  once  thrown  into  relief. 

The  convolutions  of  the  frontal  lobe,  which  is  connected  with 
intellectual  processes,  are  seen  to  have  a  marked  antero-posterior 
arrangement,  to  be  four  instead  of  three  in  number,  and  to  be 
separate,  not  to  join  each  other  at  every  turn  and  twist,  as  is  so 
notably  the  case  in  the  described  brains  of  many  eminent  men, 
and  generally  in  the  more  civilised  nations. 

This  simplicity  of  the  frontal  region  is  a  point  of  importance, 
and  may  be  considered  as  characteristic  of  a  primitive  brain. 
The  frontal  lobe  being  associated  with  higher  faculties,  it  has  been 
thought  that  the  relation  of  amount  of  brain  substance  in  front 
and  behind  the  fissure  of  Kolando  is  of  almost  equal  importance 
with  the  features  mentioned  above ;  but  in  this  brain  the  relation 
of  amount  of  brain  substance  in  front  and  behind  the  fissure  of 
Eolando  was  much  the  same  as  in  an  average  European  brain. 

It  has  also  been  thought  that  the  prse-auricular  development 
of  brain  is  of  importance  from  the  same  point  of  view,  but  this 
requires  working  out. 

1  Dr.  Thurnum  ("On  Weight  of  Brain,"  "Journal  of  Mental  Science,"  April, 
1866),  gives  the  ratio  of  the  cubic  capacity  of  male  Australian  skulls  to  European 
as  85 :  100.     Now,  the  average  brain  weight  of  an  European,  according  to  Welcker, 
is  49  ounces,  and  assuming  that  the  relation  between  cubic  capacity  of  the  skull 
and  brain  weight  is  approximately  true,  the  brain  weight  of  Australians  would  be 
41'6  ounces.  It  will  be  seen  that  this  deduction  agrees  fairly  well  with  the  result 
obtained  in  the  brain  under  notice  by  adding  38  per  cent,  of  the  actual  weight. 

2  Thurnum  :  loc.  cit. 

VOL.  XVII.  D 


34  H.  D.  ROLLESTON. — Description  of  the  Cerebral 

Throughout  the  convolutions  this  denned  condition  will  be 
seen,  and  especially  is  this  the  case  as  regards  the  occipital 
lobe.  Gratiolet,  in  his  "  Memoire  sur  les  plis  c^rebraux  de 
rhomme  et  des  Primates,"  insisted  on  the  importance  of  the  "  plis 
de  passage,"  or  annectant  gyri,  in  a  differential  diagnosis  between 
them,  and  it  was  stated  that  in  the  Chimpanzee  the  first  and 
second  annectant  gyri  were  depressed  below  the  surface  of  the 
cortex,  while  the  third  and  fourth  remained  in  a  superficial 
position. 

Leaving  this  somewhat  disputed  point,1  it  is  interesting  to  note 
in  the  human  cerebral  hemispheres  under  discussion  that  there 
is  a  tendency  to  depression  and  suppression  of  the  third  and  fourth 
annectant  gyri,  while  the  first  and  second  annectant  gyri,  though 
small,  retain  their  superficial  situation.  In  the  brain  of  the 
Bushwoman  described  by  Marshall  ("Phil.  Trans.,"  1864),  the 
annectant  gyri  were  found  to  be  small  and  single. 

The  anomalous  fissures  in  the  temporo-sphenoidal  lobe  (more 
marked  on  the  left  side)  which  tend  to  cut  off  the  temporo- 
sphenoidal  lobe,  or  more  exactly,  the  middle  and  inferior  temporo- 
sphenoidal  convolutions  from  the  third  and  fourth  annectant  gyri, 
and  in  turn  to  separate  the  third  and  fourth  annectant  gyri  (or 
the  cortex  representing  them)  from  the  occipital  lobe,  are  described 
in  detail  in  the  following  pages  and  figured  in  PI.  II,  figs.  1 
and  2. 

An  anomalous  transverse  fissure  which'  divides  the  postero- 
parietal  lobule  into  an  anterior  and  a  posterior  part  is  note- 
worthy. 

.Perhaps  the  most  noticeable  feature  in  this  brain  is  the  great 
reduction  in  size  of  the  cuneate  lobule  and  the  great  development 
of  the  parieto-occipital  fissure,  which  is  seen  to  contain  the 
inner  part  of  the  cuneate  lobe,  and  also  part  of  the  calcarine 
fissure.  Vide  PI.  II,  figs.  3  and  4. 

In  the  plates  of  Marshall's  "Bushwoman,"  the  cuneus  is 
depicted  as  decidedly  smaller  than  in  an  European  brain,  but 
bigger  than  in  this  brain;  in  his  description  of  two  idiots'  brains 
it  is  described  as  being  extremely  small. 

After  noting  the  simplicity  of  the  general  arrangement  of  the 
convolutions  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  angular  gyms 
is  the  most  convoluted  part  of  the  hemisphere,  and  that  the 
uncinate  gyrus,  another  local  habitation  of  special  sense,  is  not 
only  actually  bigger  in  this  shrunken  brain  than  in  an  average 
European,  but  has  a  blind  sulcus  placed  in  it.  (Figs.  3 
and  4.) 

1  Tide  Turner,  "  Proc.  Royal  Soc.  Edinburgh,"  1865-6.  Rolleston,  "Jfat. 
Hist.  Review,"  1861.  Article  I. 


Hemispheres  of  an  Adult  Australian  Male.  35 

Detailed  Summary  of  loth  Hemispheres. 

Lobes. — Frontal,  arrangement  simple,  tendency  to  have  four 
longitudinal  instead  of  the  usual  three  frontal  gyri  is  perhaps 
worth  notice.  The  general  absence  of  secondary  gyri  is  with 
two  other  features  a  primitive  condition. 

The  transverse  frontal  sulcus  is  well  developed,  but  does  not 
run  into  the  horizontal  limb  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius,  as  is  often 
the  case  when  well  developed. 

Orbital  surface  has  its  gyri  simple  and  the  sulci  somewhat 
shallow,  but  asymmetrical. 

Simplicity  of  orbital  surface  is  characteristic  of  primitive 
brains. 

The  sulcus  of  Eolando  is  confluent  with  the  longitudinal 
fissure. 

The  island  of  Reil  is  exposed  on  left  side,  this  exposure  is  a 
condition  found  in  primitive  brains ;  thus  Marshall  ("  Phil. 
Trans.,"  1864)  figures  it  in  the  brain  of  a  Bush  woman,  and  quotes 
other  examples.  The  exposure  of  the  island  of  Reil  implies  that 
the  surrounding  gyri  are  ill-developed,  Broca's  convolution  is 
thus  shown  to  be  defective,  a  point  of  interest  in  an  Australian 
savage  whose  language  is  primitive  as  shown  by  its  unclassified 
character. 

Parietal. — The  postero-parietal  lobule  is  divided  into  (a)  an 
anterior ;  and  (&)  a  posterior  portion,  by  a  transverse  sulcus  which 
starts  from  the  longitudinal  fissure,  12  mm.  behind  the  end  of 
the  calloso-marginal  sulcus,  and  25  mm.  in  front  of  the  external 
parieto-occipital  fissure. 

The  supra-marginal  gyrus  is  cut  off  from  the  ascending 
parietal  gyrus  by  the  confluence  of  the  interparietal  sulcus  and 
the  horizontal  limb  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius. 

This  continuity  of  the  interparietal  sulcus  and  the  horizontal 
limb  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius  is  one  of  the  many  examples  in 
this  brain  of  the  defined  and  separated  state  of  the  convolutions. 
The  absence  of  a  gyrus  crossing  the  lower  end  of  the  interparietal 
sulcus  and  joining  the  ascending  parietal  and  supra- marginal 
gyri,  means  less  grey  matter  and  therefore  a  lower  potentiality. 

A  like  condition  is  described  by  Gratiolet  in  a  Bushwoman, 
and  figured  by  Marshall  on  the  left  side  of  the  Bushwoman's 
brain  described  by  him  ("Phil.  Trans.,"  1864). 

The  angular  gyrus  is  the  most  convoluted  part  of  the  hemi- 
sphere. In  Marshall's  "  Bushwoman "  the  angular  gyrus  was 
found  to  be  decidedly  defective. 

Occipital. — The  third  and  fourth  annectant  gyri,  more  especially 
on  the  left  side,  have  but  a  slight  connection  superficially  either 
with  the  occipital  or  the  temporo-sphenoidal  lobes. 

D  2 


36  H.  D.  BOLLESTON. — Description  of  the  Cerebral 

The  external  parieto  occipital  fissure  is  small  and  bifurcated  at 
its  origin.  In  the  Quadrumana  this  fissure  is  much  more  marked, 
and  in  human  brains  it  has  been  seen  stretching  two  inches 
transversely  outwards  (Turner,  "  Convolutions  of  Human  Cere- 
brum," page  12).  It  is  of  interest  to  note  in  this  primitive  brain 
no  approach  as  regards  this  point  to  condition  in  Quadrumana. 

The  occipital  lobes  completely  hid  from  view  the  cerebellum 
when  the  encephalon  was  viewed  from  above,  at  one  time  this 
was  thought  to  be  an  important  point  in  estimating  brain  power 
in  different  types,  but  it  has  been  shown  to  be  quite  destitute  of 
any  importance. 

Temporo-sphenoidal  lobe. — The  most  notable  feature  is  the 
presence  on  both  sides  of  two  anomalous  transverse  sulci,  which 
tend  to  cut  off  the  middle  and  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal 
gyri  from  the  third  and  fourth  annectant  gyri,  and  also  to  limit 
superficially  the  connection  between  the  third  and  fourth 
annectant  gyri  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  occipital  lobe  on  the 
other. 

As  these  anomalous  sulci  are  not  entirely  symmetrical,  it  may 
be  as  well  to  describe  them  briefly. 

On  the  left  side  the  anterior  of  these  two  transverse  sulci 
(a,  vide  fig.  1,  PL  II)  arises  from  the  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal 
sulcus,  7  cm.  behind  the  most  anterior  extremity  of  the  temporo- 
sphenoidal  lobe,  and  runs  into  the  parallel  sulcus,  thus  it  cuts  off 
the  middle  and  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal  gyri  from  their 
natural  continuation,  the  third  and  fourth  annectant  gyri. 

The  posterior  transverse  sulcus  (b,  fig.  1)  arises  from  the 
lateral,  34  cm.  behind  the  anterior  one,  and  runs  almost  into  the 
parallel  fissure,  thus  tending  to  cut  off  the  superficial  connection 
between  the  third  and  fourth  annectant  gyri  and  the  occipital 
lobe. 

On  the  right  side  the  anterior  of  these  sulci  (a,  fig,  2)  is 
represented  by  an  oblique  limb  of  the  parallel  sulcus  directed 
backwards  and  downwards,  which  joins  the  inferior  longitudinal 
sulcus  at  the  point  where  the  posterior  transverse  sulcus  (b, 
fig.  2)  arises.  This  point  is  9'5  cm.  distant  from  the  most 
anterior  extremity  of  the  temporo-sphenoidal  lobe.  On  both 
sides  the  posterior  sulcus  ends  blindly,  but  it  is  much  smaller  on 
the  right  side. 

Tentorial  surface  of  the,  temporo-sphenoidal  and  occipital  lobes. — 
The  collateral  fissure  is  asymmetrical. 

The  calcarine  fissure,  shallow  posteriorly,  deepens  and  first 
joining  the  internal  parieto-occipital  fissure  then  becomes  sub- 
merged in  it.  ( Vide  figs.  3  and  4.) 

Depending  on  the  rapid  junction  of  the  calcarine  and  internal 
parieto-occipital  fissures  the  cuneate  lobe  is  very  small. 


Hemispheres  of  an  Adult  Australian  Male.  37 

On  opening  the  continuation  of  the  internal  parieto-occipital 
fissure  the  cuneate  lobe  is  seen  to  lie  submerged  in  it. 

The  fact  that  the  uncinate  gyrus  was  decidedly  bigger  than 
normal  is  noticeable.  A  blind  sulcus  ran  in  the  anterior  part  of 
the  uncinate  gyrus  from  before  backwards,  and  thus  divided  it 
into  an  internal  and  an  external  portion.  (  Vide  x,  in  figs.  3  and  4.) 


Right  Hemisphere. 

The  greatest  horizontal  external  circumference  was  8.  inches. 

From  the  point  where  the  sulcus  of  Rolando  opened  into  the 
longitudinal  fissure  to  the  most  anterior  extremity  of  the  frontal 
lobe  measured  5  inches,  while  from  the  former  point  to  the 
posterior  extremity  of  the  occipital  lobe  the  distance  was  found 
to  be  3 1  inches.  These  measurements  are  of  importance  as  they 
roughly  indicate  what  relation  the  frontal  portion  of  the  brain 
mass  bears  to  the  rest,  the  more  acute  the  angle  formed  by  the 
two  fissures  of  Rolando  opening  into  the  longitudinal  fissure  the 
more  highly  are  the  frontal  lobes  developed,  and  presumably  the 
higher  the  potential  intellectual  powers. 

The  horizontal  limb  of  the  Sylvian  fissure  was  3f  inches  in 
length,  while  the  ascending  limb  measured  1  inch  in  length. 

The  external  parieto-occipital  fissure  is  bifurcated  at  its  origin, 
both  its  limbs  are  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  length. 

Lobes. — Frontal  lobe. — The  superior  middle  and  inferior  frontal 
gyri  are  all  continuous  anteriorly ;  the  transverse  arrangement  is 
well  shown.  Tendency  to  be  four  instead  of  the  usual  three 
longitudinal  frontal  gyri. 

There  are  no  connecting  bridges  of  cortical  substance  super- 
ficially. 

The  ascending  frontal  gyrus  is  joined  superficially  to  the 
superior  and  inferior  frontal  gyri,  its  junction  with  the  middle 
frontal  gyrus  is  depressed,  being  deep  in  the  transverse  frontal 
sulcus. 

The  transverse  frontal  sulcus,  though  well  developed,  does  not 
open  into  the  horizontal  limb  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius  as  it  often 
does  when  well  formed. 

Orbital  surface,  an  irregular  and  not  very  definite  tri-radiate 
sulcus.  The  arrangement  of  the  gyri  is  simple. 

Parietal  lobe. — The  interparietal  sulcus  opens  into  the  horizontal 
limb  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius  (12'5  mm.  deep  at  this  point).  It 
is  not  broken  across  at  its  anterior  superior  border  by  a  bridge 
of  cortical  substance  as  it  is  on  the  left  side. 

The  ascending  parietal  gyrus  is  connected  in  the  operculum  to 
the  ascending  frontal  gyrus,  but  is  quite  cut  off  from  the  supra- 


38  H.  D.  ROLLESTON. — Description  of  the  Cerebral 

marginal  gyrus  by  the  junction  of  the  interparietal  sulcus  with 
the  horizontal  limb  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius. 

The  postero-parietal  lobule  is  divided  into  anterior  and  posterior 
portions  by  a  sulcus  parallel  to  and  1  inch  in  front  of  the 
external  parieto-occipital  sulcus  (half  an  inch  behind  the 
end  of  the  calloso-marginal  sulcus).  This  sulcus  joins  the  inter- 
parietal  sulcus.  At  the  bottom  of  this  anomalous  sulcus  a  small 
gyrus  rising  to  the  surface  is  visible.  The  postero-parietal  lobule 
is  connected  by  a  bridge  to  the  angular  gyrus  and  by  the  first 
annectant  gyrus  to  the  superior  occipital  gyrus. 

The  supra-marginal  gyrus  is  quite  cut  off'  from  the  ascending 
parietal  gyrus  by  the  interparietal  sulcus  running  into  the  hori- 
zontal limb  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius.  In  common  with  the  angular 
gyrus  it  is  connected  with  superior  temporo-sphenoidal  gyrus. 

Angular  gyrus  is  more  convoluted  than  the  rest  of  the  hemi- 
sphere, it  is  connected  to  the  posterior  portion  of  the  postero- 
parietal  lobule,  and  to  the  superior  but  not  the  middle  temporo- 
sphenoidal  gyri. 

The  place  where  the  second  annectant  gyrus  would  naturally 
come  off  is  injured,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  the  recent  state 
tbere  was  a  large  Pacchionian  body  there,  but  it  does  not  look  as 
if  there  had  been  one  there. 

From  the  angular  gyrus  an  isolated  tongue  of  cortical  substance, 
with  sulci  8-12  mm.  deep  on  each  side  of  it,  runs  forward  between 
(a)  the  connecting  gyrus  between  the  superior  temporo-sphenoidal 
and  the  supra-marginal  and  angular  gyri,  and  (b)  the  annectant 
gyri  from  the  middle  and  inferior  teinporo-spheiioidal  gyri. 

Occipital  lobe. — The  three  gyri  are  distinct. 

Of  the  annectant  gyri  the  first  is  well  developed,  as  to  the 
second,  owing  to  injuryit  is  doubtful  where  it  ever  existed,  the  third 
annectant  gyrus  has  no  superficial  origin  from  the  middle 
temporo-sphenoidal  gyrus.  There  is  no  fourth  annectant  gyrus. 
Temporo-sphenoidal  lobe. — The  parallel  sulcus  (vide  fig.  2) 
bifurcates  posteriorly,  and  thus  encloses  what  represents  the  third 
and  fourth  annectant  gyri,  the  lower  limb  of  the  fissure  where  it 
crosses  the  middle  temporo-sphenoidal  gyrus  is  very  shallow  at 
first,  but  deepens  (12  mm.)  as  it  approaches  the  lateral  boundary 
where  it  joins  the  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal  sulcus.  Across 
•  this  shallow  limb  the  middle  temporo-sphenoidal  gyrus  is  con- 
tinuous into  the  third  annectant  gyrus. 

The  third  annectant  gyrus  is  almost  divided  into  an  anterior 
and  posterior  portion  by  a  vertical  sulcus  (b,  fig.  2)  which  starts 
from  the  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal  sulcus  at  the  point  where 
the  lower  obliquely  directed  limb  of  the  parallel  sulcus  joins  the 
inferior  temporo-sphenoidal  sulcus.  This  vertical  sulcus  is  1 2  mm. 
in  length.  [Compare  its  greater  development  on  the  left  side.] 


Hemispheres  of  an  Adult  Australian  Male.  39 

Under  surface  of  the  temporo-sphenoidal  and  occipital  lobes. — 
Gyri  eminently  antero-posterior  in  direction. 

Collateral  fissure  is  broken  up  by  an  irregular  communicating 
bridge  between  the  uncinate  and  inferior  temporo-occipital  gyri. 
It  does  not  join  the  calcarine  or  the  internal  parieto-occipital 
fissures. 

Calcarine  fissure  (c,  fig.  4)  arises  posteriorly  from  a  shallow 
bifurcated  origin  and  runs  first  into  and  then  becomes  sub- 
merged in  the  internal  parieto-occipital  fissure,  so  that  the 
internal  part  of  the  calcarine  fissure  does  not  open  on  the  surface, 
but  into  the  continuation  of  the  internal  parieto-occipital  fissure. 

The  cuneate  lobe  (d,  fig.  4)  is  very  small  owing  to  the 
junction  of  the  calcarine  and  internal  parieto-occipital  fissures  so 
close  to  posterior  border  of  the  occipital  lobe,  its  greatest  breadth 
is  12  mm.  The  cuneate  lobe  is  submerged  in  the  continuation 
of  the  internal  parieto-occipital  fissure.  The  cuneate  lobe  ends 
in  a  submerged  tongue  which  runs  across  the  continuation  of 
internal  parieto-occipital  sulcus  into  the  prsecuneus. 

The  anterior  part  of  the  uncinate  gyrus  is  divided  into  two 
portions,  internal  and  external,  by  a  simple  blind  sulcus 
(33  mm.  long)  which  runs  in  an  antero-posterior  direction.  This 
sulcus  is  12  mm.  in  depth.  This  sulcus  is  marked  with  x  in 
fig.  4. 

The  inferior  occipito-temporal  gyrus  is  more  convoluted  pos- 
teriorly than  anteriorly,  laterally  it  is  well  separated  off  from 
the  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal  gyrus  by  the  inferior  temporo- 
sphenoidal  sulcus. 

Left  Hemisphere. 

The  greatest  horizontal  circumference  externally  was  8£ 
inches,  while  the  maximum  height  was  3£  inches. 

Taking  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  brain  it  is  seen  that  the  anterior 
extremity  of  the  frontal  lobe  is  5^  inches  in  front  of  the  point 
where  the  fissure  of  Kolando  runs  into  the  longitudinal  fissure, 
and  that  this  latter  point  is  3|  inches  distant  from  the  posterior 
extremity  of  the  occipital  lobe. 

The  fissures. — The  horizontal  limb  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius 
measured  3|  inches  in  length,  while  the  ascending  limb  was  half 
an  inch  in  length,  and  then  bifurcated,  at  its  origin  a  small 
portion  of  the  insula  was  visible. 

The  external  parieto-occipital  fissure  was  bifurcated  at  its 
origin. 

The  interparietal  sulcus  opened  into  the  horizontal  limb  of  the 
fissure  of  Sylvius,  it  is  bridged  across  at  its  anterior  and  superior 
border  by  a  gyrus  which  joins  the  postero-parietal  lobule. 


40  H.  D.  ROLLESTOX. — Description  of  the  Cerebral 

The  parallel  sulcus  was  far  from  normal,  2|  inches  from  the 
anterior  extremity  of  the  temporo-sphenoidal  lobe  it  is  joined  at 
right  angles  by  a  sulcus  (a,  PL  II,  fig.  1)  which  arises  from  the 
inferior  temporo-sphenoidal  sulcus.  The  second  and  third 
temporo-sphenoidal  gyri  are  thus  separated  from  the  third  and 
fourth  annectant  gyri.  [Compare  with  so-called  bifurcation  of 
parallel  fissure  on  right  sido.] 

From  this  point  the  parallel  fissure  is  continued  posteriorly  for 
2  inches,  it  then  bifurcates  and  tends  to  cut  off  the  occipital 
lobe  from  its  third  and  fourth  annectant  gyri.  At  the  point 
of  bifurcation  the  sulcus  is  deep,  the  limbs,  however,  are 
shallow. 

The  lobes. — Frontal  lobe. — The  superior  middle  and  inferior 
frontal  gyri  are  blended  superficially  at  their  anterior  extremity, 
their  arrangement  is  otherwise  simple.  It  may  be  worth  while 
noting  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  four  instead  of  usual  three 
longitudinal  gyri. 

The  ascending  frontal  gyrus  is  connected  to  the  superior  frontal 
by  a  large  bridge,  and  to  the  inferior  frontal  gyrus  by  a  small 
bridge,  otherwise  it  is  distinct  and  is  not  connected  to  the  middle 
frontal  gyrus. 

Orbital  surface,  smoother  than  on  the  right  side.  The  tri- 
radiate  sulcus  is  fairly  distinct. 

The  parietal  lobe. — The  ascending  parietal  gyrus  is  quite 
isolated  except  for  two  small  bridges  of  cortex  which  connect  it, 
the  one  to  the  ascending  frontal  gyrus,  the  other  to  the  postero- 
parietal  lobule. 

The  postero-parietal  lobule  is  joined  by  a  small  bridge  to  the 
supra-marginal  gyrus.  Running  transversely  into  the  postero- 
parietal  lobule  from  the  longitudinal  fissure  is  seen  a  sulcus, 
which  is,  however,  not  so  well  developed  as  the  one  on  the  right 
side,  it  does  not  run  into  the  interparietal  sulcus,  and  hence  the 
postero-parietal  lobule  is  not  divided  into  two  separate  halves, 
anterior  and  posterior,  as  is  the  case  on  the  other  side. 

The  first  annectant  gyrus  is  small  superficially. 

The  supra-marginal  gyrus  is  cut  off  from  the  ascending  parietal 
gyrus  by  the  interparietal  sulcus  and  is  joined  to  the  superior 
temporo-sphenoidal  gyrus  by  a  gyrus  (half  an  inch  across).  As 
mentioned  above,  a  gyrus  breaks  across  the  interparietal  sulcus 
at  its  anterior  superior  border  to  join  the  postero-parietal  lobule. 

The  angular  gyrus  is  distinct  and  is  better  marked  off  than  on 
the  right  side. 

The  second  annectant  gyrus  is  distinct. 

In  common  with  the  supra-marginal,  the  angular  gyrus  is 
connected  to  the  superior  temporo-sphenoidal,  but  not  to  the 
middle  temporo-sphenoidal  gyrus. 


Hemispheres  of  an  Adult  Australian  Male.  41 

The  occipital  lobe. — The  sulci  separating  the  three  gyri  are 
distinct. 

Of  the  annectant  gyri  the  first  is  small  while  the  second  is 
plainly  shown,  the  first  annectant  gyrus  separates  the  external 
parieto-occipital  fissure  from  a  sulcus  (1J  inches  long)  directed 
transversely  outwards. 

The  third  and  fourth  annectant  gyri  are  almost  entirely  cut 
off  from  the  occipital  lobe  by  a  vertically  directed  sulcus 
(b,  fig.  1),  which  arises  from  the  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal 
sulcus  at  the  lateral  boundary.  This  sulcus  is  prevented 
running  into  the  posterior  portion  of  the  parallel  sulcus  by  a 
narrow  briflge  of  cortical  substance,  which  is  the  whole  super- 
ficial part  of  the  third  (and  fourth  ?)  annectant  gyri. 

Temporo-sphenoidal  lobe. — The  superior  temporo-sphenoidal 
gyrus  is  continuous  with  the  supra-marginal  and  angular  gyri, 
at  about  its  centre,  the  superior  temporo-sphenoidal  gyrus  is  cut 
across  by  .a  shallow  sulcus  which  connects  the  horizontal  limb 
of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius  and  the  parallel  sulcus  described  above. 

The  middle  temporo-sphenoidal  sulcus,  2f  inches  from  the 
anterior  extremity  of  the  temporo-sphenoidal  lobe  ;  this  sulcus  is 
cut  across  by  a  vertical  sulcus  running  from  the  parallel  sulcus 
to  .the  inferior  tempero-sphenoidal  sulcus.  This  anomalous 
sulcus  cuts  off  the  middle  and  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal  gyri 
from  their  natural  continuations,  the  third  and  fourth  annectant 
gyri  (a,  fig.  1). 

At  a  distance  of  \\  inches  behind  this  anomalous  sulcus  there 
is  a  vertical  sulcus  (b,  fig.  1)  (1  inch  in  length)  which  almost 
entirely  cuts  off  the  occipital  lobe  from  the  third  and  fourth 
annectant  gyri  (vide  under  occipital  lobe). 

The  inferior  tempero-sphenoidal  sulcus  begins  in  the  anterior 
of  these  two  anomalous  vertical  sulci  and  runs  in  the  lateral 
boundary  to  the  posterior  extremity  of  the  brain. 

The  under  surface  of  the  temporo-sphenoidal  and  occipital  lobes. 
— The  arrangement  of  the  gyri  is  eminently  antero-posterior  in 
direction. 

The  collateral  fissure  bifurcates  posteriorly,  the  internal  limb 
joins  the  calcarine  fissure. 

The  calcarine  fissure  (c,  fig.  3)  is  bifurcated  at  its  origin 
posteriorly,  it  then  runs  into  the  internal  parieto-occipital  fissure 
and  becomes  submerged  in  the  continuation  of  that  fissure. 
The  cuneate  lobe  is  very  small,  its  greatest  breadth  is  a  quarter 
of  an  inch,  it  is  also  submerged  for  part  of  its  extent  in  the 
continuation  of  the  internal  parieto-occipital  fissure.  The  cal- 
carine fissure  is  more  submerged  on  this  side  than  on  the  right 
side. 

The  uncinate  gyrus  is  not  very  easy  of  definition  posteriorly 


42    H.  ROLLESTON. — Cerebral  Hemispheres  of  Australian  Male. 

owing  to  the  fact  that  the  collateral  fissure  is  rather  broken 
up.  The  uncinate  gyrus  is  distinctly  larger  than  normal,  it 
measured  a  quarter  of  an  inch  more  than  that  of  a  well  developed 
European  brain. 

Anteriorly  the  uncinate  gyrus  is  divided  (as  on  the  right  side) 
into  an  internal  and  an  external  portion  by  a  blind  sulcus 
(marked  x,  fig.  3)  directed  antero-posteriorly.  This  sulcus  (25 
mm.  long,  6  mm.  deep)  is  not  so  big  as  the  corresponding  one 
on  the  right  side. 

The  inferior  temporo-occipital  gyrus  is  well  defined  laterally 
by  the  inferior  temporo-sphenoidal  sulcus. 

Depths  of  Fissures  and  Sulci. 

The  fissures  and  sulci  were  measured  in  several  places.  The 
number  put  down  is  an  average.  It  may  be  well  to  say  that 
the  term  fissure  is  reserved  for  the  so-called  complete  sulci,  viz., 
the  Sylvian,  parieto-occipital,  calcarine,  collateral,  and  hippo- 
campal.  All  the  rest  are  sulci. 

Eight  Left 

Fissures :  hemisphere.       hemisphere. 

Sylvian. .          . .          . .          . .  167  mm.    14'5  mm. 

Collateral          9'5  9'4 

Calcarine           14-3  127 

Internal  parieto-occipital        . .  17'4  19'0 

Hippocampal    . .          . .          . .  7'9  9-5 

fSrulti : 

Eolando            127  127 

Interparietal 137  127 

Transverse  frontal        . .          . .  127  13'3 

Orbital  surface. ,          . .          . .  77  4*6 

Parallel 16'9  15-8 

Middle  temporo-sphenoidal     . .  9*5  127 

Explanation  of  Plate  II. 

Fig.  1.     Lateral  view  of  left  hemisphere  of  brain  of  adult  male 

Australian.     For  explanation  of  sulci  marked  a  and 

b  in  figs.  1  and  2,  see  text. 
„     2.     Lateral  view  of  posterior  portion  of  right  hemisphere  of 

the  same  brain. 

„     3.     Tentorial  surface  of  left  hemisphere  of  the  same  brain. 
„     4.     Tentorial  surface  of  right  hemisphere.  Reference  letters 

to  figs.  3  and  4  ;  c,  calcarine  fissure ;  d,  cuneate  lobe ; 

e,  internal  parieto-occipital  fissure  ;  x,  an  anomalous 

sulcus  described  in  the  text. 


S.  HANSEN  . — Fossil  Human  Skull  from  Lagoa  Santa.       43 
The  following  paper  was  then  read  : — 

On  a  FOSSIL  HUMAN  SKULL  from  LAGOA  SANTA,  BRAZIL. 
By  SOREN  HANSEN. 

Abstract. 

THE  author  gives  good  reason  for  believing  that  the  skull  in 
question,  now  in  the  Geological  Department  of  the  Natural 
History  Section  of  the  British  Museum,  having  formed  part  of  a 
collection  purchased  in  1844  from  M.  Chaussen,  was  originally 
in  the  possession  of  Lund,  and  is  one  of  a  large  series  obtained 
by  that  explorer  in  the  cave  known  as  Lapa  di  Lagoa  di 
Sumadouro,  the  remainder  of  which  are  in  the  Copenhagen 
Museum.  As  the  contents  of  this  cave  are  much  mixed,  the 
age  of  any  individual  specimen  found  in  it  can  not  be  deter- 
mined with  precision,  but  the  author  believes  that  this  skull  was 
contemporaneous  with  the  now  extinct  mammalian  fauna  of 
the  country.  It  has  the  same  elongated  form  and  general 
characters  of  the  other  Lagoa  Santa  skulls,  characters  which 
are  repeated  in  the  Botokudos,  more  nearly  than  in  any  other 
existing  race. 


MARCH  STH,  1887. 
FRANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  ordinary  meeting  were  read  and 
signed. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors : — 

FOR  THE  LIBRARY. 

From  the  AUTHOR. — Social    History  of   the   Races   of   Mankind. 

Second  Division.     Papuo   and  Malayo  Melanesians.     By  A. 

Featherman. 
Annual  Address  to  the  Asiatic  Society,  Calcutta,  February 

2,  1887.     By  the  President,  E.  T.  Atkinson,  B.A. 
From  the  GEOLOGICAL  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY  SURVEY  OF  CANADA. — 

Annual  Report,  1885. 
From  the  ESSEX  FIELD  CLUB. —  Transactions.     Vol.  iv,  Part  2. 

—  The  Essex  Naturalist.     Nos.  1,  2. 
From  the  ASSOCIATION. — Journal  of  the  East  India  Association. 

Vol.  xix,  No.  2. 


44  A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen. 

From  the  SOCIETY. — Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.     Nos.  1788-9. 

Proceedings   of    the   Royal    Geographical    Society.     March, 

1887. 

—  Proceedings  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.     1886.     Nos. 
8,9. 

—  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.     Nos.  271,  272. 
From  the  EDITOR. — Nature.     Nos.  904,  905. 

Science.     No.  211. 

-  Photographic  Times.     Nos.  283,  284. 

—  Scientific  News.     Vol.  I,  No.  1. 
Kosmos.     Vol.  I,  No.  1. 


The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

STONE  CIRCLES  near  ABERDEEN. 
By   A.   L.   LEWIS,   F.C.A.,   M.A.I. 

[WITH  PLATE  in.] 

THE  comparatively  flat  part  of  Scotland,  which  forms  its  most 
easterly  angle,  and  is  chiefly  included  in  the  county  of  Aberdeen, 
has,  up  to  a  recent  period,  contained  a  great  number  of  stone 
circles,  no  less  than  twelve  having  existed  within  the  memory 
of  man  in  the  one  parish  of  Old  Deer,  in  the  corner  of  the  angle 
already  mentioned,  about  twenty  miles  north  from  Aberdeen, 
and  within  a  dozen  miles  of  the  sea.  Many,  however,  which 
remained  so  recently  as  to  be  marked  on  the  ordnance  map,  have 
now  disappeared ;  amongst  them  one  which  formerly  stood  on 
the  Burgh  Muir  of  Inverurie,  about  sixteen  miles  north-west 
from  Aberdeen.1 

There  is  a  fine  circle  remaining  at  Tyrebaggar  Hill,  two  miles 
from  Dyce  junction,  and  six  or  eight  north-west  from  Aberdeen  ; 
it  is  57  feet  in  diameter,  and  consists  of  eleven  upright  stones 
varying  in  height  from  2^  to  9^  feet,  standing  on  a  bank  of 
earth  and  stones,  2-g-  feet  high,  and  3  or  4  wide  at  the  narrowest 
part ;  the  two  tallest  stones  are  on  the  south  side  of  the  circle, 
and  between  them  is  a  stone,  10  feet  or  more  long,  6^  high,  and 
2  thick,  which  leans  inwards,  but  had  planted  round  it  a  number 
of  small  stones,  2  or  3  feet  long,  and  a  foot  or  so  square,  as  if  to 
hold  it  in  its  place.  The  group  formed  by  this  stone  with  its 
little  supporters  and  the  two  high  stones,  one  on  each  side  of  it, 
is  obviously  the  principal  feature  of  the  circle,  and  a  line  taken 
almost  due  north  from  its  centre  cuts  through  the  centre  of  the 

1  I  mention  this  to  prevent  others  from  making  a  useless  journey. 


A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen.  45 

circle  and  between  two  small  stones  set  on  the  inner  face  of  the 
bank  to  a  single  stone  which  is  the  most  northerly  of  those 
forming  the  circle ;  of  the  other  upright  stones,  three  stand  at 
irregular  intervals  forming  the  west  side  of  the  circle,  gradually 
diminishing  in  size  towards  the  north,  and  three  in  somewhat 
similar  positions  forming  the  east  side ;  but,  besides  these  latter 
three,  there  are,  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  circumference,  two 
other  small  stones,  standing  close  together  in  such  a  position 
that  a  line  taken  from,  the  front  of  the  centre  of  the  principal 
stone  due  north-east  would  pass  between  them;  there  is  a 
tumulus  about  375  feet  away  in  this  direction,  but  not,  it  would 
seem,  in  the  exact  line.  Mr.  McCombie  Stewart,  the  station- 
master  at  Dyce,  who  should  be  consulted  by  any  one  visiting 
Dyce  for  scientific  purposes,  informed  me  that  there  was  formerly 
a  hole  in  the  middle  of  the  circle,  which  might  be  suggestive  of 
the  former  existence  of  a  kist ;  he  also  told  me  that  there  was 
supposed  to  be  iron  in  the  largest  stones,  and  this  seems  very 
probable,  for,  on  working  my  rough  plans  out  at  home,  I  found 
a  disagreement  in  the  compass-bearings.  In  this  emergency  I 
applied  to  Mr.  McCombie  Stewart,  sending  him  a  plan  and 
asking  him  to  verify  my  compass -bearings  and  some  other 
particulars.  He  was  so  kind  as  not  only  to  do  this,  but  to  get 
one  of  the  Engineers  of  the  railway  to  make  an  exact  plan  of 
the  circle,  showing  the  bearing  of  each  stone  from  the  centre. 
I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  say,  as  showing  the  accuracy  of  my 
own  methods,  that  my  plan  superposed  upon  his  gave  practically 
the  same  results. 

In  the  letter  accompanying  the  plan,  Mr.  McCombie  Stewart, 
who  is  qualified  to  speak  as  a  geologist,  says,  "  We  were  unable 
to  account  for  the  peculiar  ringing  sound  of  the  altar  stone, 
unless  it  be  caused  by  the  flat  shape  of  the  stone,  having  its  side 
firmly  fixed  in  the  ground,  and  the  projecting  part  having  a 
certain  vibration — or  if  it  were  from  the  hard  heathen  substance 
of  an  iron  nature — but  one  thing  is  certain,  the  stone  is  not  of 
the  same  nature  as  those  belonging  to  the  neighbouring  quarry." 
I  may  here  mention  that  Mr.  John  Stuart1  says  of  a  similar 
circle  at  Ardoyne,  Aberdeenshire  (now  nearly  destroyed),  that 
the  oblong  stone  and  the  two  upright  stones  flanking  it  were  of 
Bennachie  granite,  while  the  rest  of  the  stones  were  of  gneiss. 
Here  are  two  more  instances  of  the  custom  of  selecting  stones 
from  some  other  locality  for  the  principal  stones  of  a  circle. 
Returning  to  the  Dyce  circle  I  ought  to  mention  that  there  are 
two  or  three  small  stones  (say  '6  feet  x  2  feet  x  2  feet)  in  a 
plantation  to  the  south-east,  but  whether  thrown  down  from  the 

1  "  Sculptured  Stones  of  Scotland"  (Spalding  Club). 


46  A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen. 

circle  or  not,  I  cannot  say.  A  cairn  in  the  field  to  the  north- 
east was,  Mr.  McCombie  Stewart  says,  removed  in  1886. 

Mr.  Christian  Maclagan,  in  his  "  Hill-forts,  Stone  Circles,  &c., 
of  Ancient  Scotland,"  published  in  large  quarto  at  Edinburgh 
in  1875,  gives  a  plan  of  the  Dyce  circle,  which  shows  an  inner 
circle  of  small  stones  close  together,  of  which  the  two  that  I 
have  mentioned  were  doubtless  a  part.  He  also  shows  three 
stones  outside  the  larger  circle,  as  though  forming  part  of  an 
outer  concentric  circle,  they  are  probably  those  which  I  have 
mentioned  as  being  in  a  plantation  to  the  south-east,  but  I  do 
not  think  there  was  any  circle  surrounding  that  which  now 
exists.  Mr.  Maclagan's  book  appears  to  have  been  published  at 
considerable  expense  to  support  a  view  of  which  he  probably 
has  a  monopoly,  namely,  that  all  stone  circles  are  the  last 
remains  of  circular  buildings  of  unmortared  masonry  of  the 
brocli  type,  and  that  the  banks  of  small  stones  in  which  the  up- 
right ones  are  set  and  held  fast  are  only  the  remains  of  founda- 
tions. He  also  thinks  that  the  oblong  stones  have  in  every  case 
been  laid  flat  on  the  short  pillars  surrounding  them,  and  have 
been  the  lintels  of  entrances,  and  he  delineates  a  "  restoration  " 
of  a  circle  at  Aquhorthies,  near  Inverurie,  showing  the  oblong 
stone  in  this  position  with  a  huge  mass  of  uncemented  masonry 
resting  upon  it.  There  can,  however,  be  little  doubt  that  all 
these  oblong  stones  were  originally  set  upright  on  edge,  and  that 
where  they  lean  or  are  flat  it  is  because  they  have  slipped.  Mr. 
Maclagan  speaks  of  them  as  "  south-west  stones,"  whereas  they 
are  not  at  the  south-west,  but  at  the  south  of  the  circles — 
perhaps  he  forgot  the  westerly  variation  of  the  compass.  Mr. 
Maclagan  considers  his  theory  to  apply  to  Stonehenge,  which  he 
figures  "  restored  "  with  an  enormous  tower  embedding  and  sur- 
mounting it,  and  to  Avebury,  the  great  circle  of  which,  1,300  feet 
in  diameter,  he  takes  to  have  been  the  last  remains  of  an  im- 
mense circular  wall,  larger  than  the  bank  which  still  surrounds 
the  site,  and  which  is  as  large  as  a  railway  embankment.  The 
utter  improbability  of  the  entire  disappearance  (especially  in 
places  where  stones  are  a  nuisance)  of  such  tremendous  quantities 
as  Mr.  Maclagan  suggests  the  former  existence  of  might,  but  for 
his  nationality,  lead  us  to  suppose  that  in  propounding  his  theory 
he  was  perpetrating  a  practical  joke  almost  as  heavy  as  his 
masses  of  masonry  would  have  been  had  they  ever  existed ;  at 
the  same  time,  it  may  be  admitted  that  some  very  small  circles 
may  possibly  have  had  some  such  origin  as  he  suggests.  It  is  a 
great  but  common  mistake  to  assume  that  all  circular  arrange- 
ments of  stones  must  necessarily  have  had  the  same  origin  and 
use. 

About  six  miles  south  from  Aberdeen  and  two  west  from 


A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen.  47 

Portlethen  station,  four  circles  are  marked  on  the  ordnance  map — 
two  on  each  side  of  the  hill  of  Auchorthies.  These  four  circles 
were  described  in  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries 
of  Scotland"  (June,  1863,  Vol.  V,  page  130),  by  Mr.  Alexander 
Thomson,  who,  with  some  others,  dug  inside  them  on  30th 
September,  1858.  Of  the  most  northerly  of  these  circles — the 
Badentoy  circle — four  stones  remain  in  the  middle  of  a  field,  a  wall 
has  been  built  round  them,  no  doubt  from  the  fragments  of  other 
stones  belonging  to  the  circle,  a  mode  of  preserving  rude  stone 
monuments  which,  however  well-intentioned,  does  not  commend 
itself  to  the  archaeologist.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  these  four 
stones  have  themselves  been  removed  inwards  from  their  original 
position,  since  they  now  stand  at  the  four  cardinal  points  by 
compass  from  a  central  point,  the  distance  between  the  north 
and  south  pair  being  only  28  feet,  and  that  between  the  east  and 
west  pair  only  24  feet,  the  diameter  of  a  small  inner  circle,  for 
which  3  feet  stones  were  generally  used,  while  these  stones 
are  from  4  to  7  feet  high,  the  size  of  those  used  for  outer  circles. 
Mr.  Thomson,  indeed,  says  that  he  found  only  three  stones 
standing,  and  it  would  seem,  on  a  comparison  of  the  measure- 
ments he  gives,  that  the  most  northerly  stone  (which  is  the 
smallest  and  most  untruly  placed)  has  been  put  in  its  present 
position,  and  the  wall  built  since  he  visited  it  (perhaps  in  1865, 
when  the  ordnance  survey  was  made).  Mr.  Thomson  found  that 
this  circle  had  been  excavated  before,  some  half-calcined  bones 
and  morsels  of  wood  charcoal  being  left.  The  second  circle 
from  the  north — the  "  King-causie "  circle  — appears  to  have 
been  entirely  destroyed,  two  or  three  very  small  stones  and 
some  heaps  of  fragments,  which  may  perhaps  have  belonged  to 
it,  only  excepted.  In  1858,  Mr.  Thomson  found  here  three  con- 
centric rings  of  small  stones  from  2  to  3  feet  high,  the  outer 
circle  70  feet,  the  middle  circle  56  feet,  and  the  inner  circle  12 
feet  in  diameter.  The  latter  was  found  upon  digging  to  be  full 
of  black  mould,  fragments  of  bones,  and  wood  charcoal,  and  in 
five  places  fragments  of  coarse  earthenware  vases.  As  he  says 
this  circle  was  so  inconspicuous  that  one  might  pass  within  a 
few  yards  of  it  without  noticing  it,  it  is  possible  that  I  did  not 
get  to  the  right  spot,  and  that  there  may  be  more  of  it  left 
than  I  have  said.  Of  the  most  southerly  circle — the  Bourtree- 
bush  circle — four  stones  remain  upright  and  four  prostrate, 
besides  quantities  of  very  small  fragments,  the  stones  which 
remain  are  about  the  same  size  as  those  at  I)yce,  and  the 
diameter  of  the  circle  would  appear  to  have  been  about  90  feet. 
Of  these  four  circles  (which  do  not  seem  to  have  had  any 
connection  with  each  other)  only  the  second  from  the  south 
— the  Auchorthies  circle — is  in  such  preservation  that  its 


48  A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen. 

plan  can  be  clearly  made  oiit,  and  of  this  bad  weather  and  want 
of  time  prevented  my  taking  fully  detailed  measurements. 
I  am  able,  however,  to  say  that,  like  the  Dyce  circle,  it  has  an 
oblong  stone  (9  feet  long,  by  4  feet  high,  by  1£  feet  thick), 
standing  on  edge  at  the  south  side,  facing  a  trifle  west  of  true 
north,  which  had  an  upright  stone  on  each  side,  one  of  these 
remains,  and  the  hole  in  which  the  other  stood  is  plainly  visible. 
The  circle  was  formed  of  perhaps  a  dozen  other  stones,  none  of 
which  were  more  than  6  feet  high,  its  diameter  seems  to  have 
been  60  feet  from  north  to  south,  and  76  from  east  to  west. 
There  was  a  second  circle  about  12  feet  inside  the  outer  one,  it 
consisted  of  stones  measuring  on  the  average  3  feet  high  by  3 
feet  by  1  foot,  and  standing  close  together.  Close  to  the  centre 
of  these  concentric  circles  and  in  the  direct  north  and  south 
line  are  three  small  stones  (2  feet  high  by  If  foot  by  1  feet) 
close  together,  perhaps  forming  part  of  a  small  interior  circle  or 
kist.  The  ground  inside  all  these  three  circles  is  a  foot  or  two 
higher  than  that  outside.  Mr.  John  Stuart  says  that  in  one  ot 
them  a  kist,  3  feet  long  and  1^  wide,  containing  ashes,  was  dug 
up  between  the  outer  and  second  circles.  This,  however,  was 
obviously  a  mere  casual  interment. 

The  two  last-mentioned  circles  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
much  interfered  with  since  Mr.  Thomson  explored  them  in  1858. 
He  does  not  seem  to  have  found  anything  in  the  Bourtreebush 
circle,  but  on  turning  up  the  area  of  the  innermost  circle  at 
Auchorthies,  he  found  charcoal,  half-calcined  bones,  black  unc- 
tuous earth,  and  small  fragments  of  a  vase,  and  he  was  told  some- 
one had  dug  there  fifteen  years  previously  and  found  nothing. 

Mr.  Maclagan  seems  to  me  to  have  mixed  up  his  recollections 
and  sketches  of  the  circles  at  Aquhorthies,  near  Inverurie,  and 
Auchorthies,  near  Aberdeen,  which  latter  I  have  just  been 
describing,  and  he  says  of  the  most  southerly  circle  at  Auchor- 
thies, that  Chalmers  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  found 
sixteen  stones,  but  that  he  himself  going  in  1873  found 
only  one,  but  saw  the  places  where  the  other  fifteen  had  been, 
each  with  a  little  heap  of  stones  round  it,  and  argues  from  this 
the  great  rapidity  with  which  these  momiments  have  been 
destroyed,  and  the  probability  of  the  removal  of  his  imaginary 
masses  of  masonry  within  the  historic  period.  I,  going  in  1885, 
however,  found,  as  I  have  said,  four  stones  upright  and  four 
fallen,  so  that  I  cannot  but  think  that  Mr.  Maclagan  must  have 
missed  this  circle,  and  found  his  way  instead  to  a  standing  stone 
shown  on  the  ordnance  map  about  half  a  mile  further  south. 
Moreover,  though  Chalmers  gives  the  description  attributed  to 
him,  he  quotes  it  (with  acknowledgment)  from  a  much  older 
one,  which  I  am  now  about  to  quote  also. 


A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen.  49 

A  letter  from  the  Keverend  Dr.  James  Garden,  Professor  of 
Theology  in  the  King's  College  of  Aberdeen,  to  —  Aubrey, 
Esquire,  which  contained,  amongst  other  things,  a  description  of 
the  two  circles  last  referred  to,  was  read  before  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  of  London,  on  the  4th  December,  1766,1  and  from 
it  I  have  made  the  following  extracts  : — 

"  Honoured  Sir, 

"  Yours  dated  at  London,  April  9th,  1692,  came  to  my  hands 
about  ten  days  after.8  .... 

"  What  the  Lord  Tester  and  Sir  Eobert  Morray  told  you  long 
ago  is  true,  viz.,  that  in  the  north  parts  of  this  kingdom  many 
monuments  of  the  nature  and  fashion  described  by  you  are  yet 
extant.  They  consist  of  tall,  big,  unpolished  stones  set  upon 
end  and  placed  circularly,  not  contiguous  together  but  at  some 
distances ;  the  obscurer  sort  (which  are  the  more  numerous) 
have  but  one  circle  of  stones  standing  at  equal  distances ; 
others  towards  the  south  or  south-east  have  a  larger  broad  stone 
standing  on  edge,  which  fills  up  the  whole  space  between  two  of 
those  stones  that  stand  on  end,  and  is  called  by  the  vulgar  the 
altar  stone ;  a  third  sort  more  remarkable  than  any  of  the 
former  (besides  all  that  I  have  already  mentioned)  have  another 
circle  of  smaller  stones  standing  inside  the  circle  of  the  great 
stones ;  the  area  of  the  three  sorts  is  commonly  (not  always) 
filled  with  stones  of  sundry  sizes  confusedly  cast  together  in  a 
heap.  Two  of  the  largest  and  most  remarkable  of  these 
monuments  that  ever  I  saw  are  yet  to  be  seen  at  a  place  called 
Auchincorthie,  in  the  sliire  of  Merris,  5  miles  distant  from 
Aberdeen,3  one  of  which  has  two  circles  of  stones,  whereof  the 
exterior  circle  consists  of  thirteen  great  stones  (besides  two  that 
are  fallen  and  the  broad  stone  toward  the  south)  about  3  yards 
high  above  ground,  and  7  or  8  paces  distant  one  from  another, 
the  diameter  being  24  large  paces  ;  the  interior  circle  is  about 
3  paces  distant  from  the  other,  and  the  stones  thereof  3  feet 
high  above  ground.4  Toward  the  east  from  this  monument,  at 

1  Archseologia,  Vol.  1,  page  312. 

2  I  am   informed  by  Professor  Geddes,  of  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  that 
the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Garden  was  Professor  of  Divinity  there  from  1681  until  he 
•was  dismissed  for  refusing  to  submit  to  William  III,  and  that  his  successor  was 
installed  in  1698.— A.  L.  L. 

3  "  Merris  "  is  Mearns  or  Kincardine.     Chalmers,  quoting   this  account   in 
"  Caledonia,"  says  that  Achen-corthie  signifies  the  "  field  of  the  circles,"  on  the 
ordnance  map   it  is  called  Auchorthies,  and  I   find  there  is  also  a  place  called 
Aquhorthies,  near  Inverury,  where  a  circle  still   exists,  or  did  till  very  lately. 
Gough,  in  his  edition  of  Camden's  Britannia,  1806,  also  quotes  this  account,  but 
both  authors  have  committed  error*,  in  transcribing  and  abridging  it. — A.  L.  L. 

4  This  is  apparently  the  most  southerly  of  the  four  circles  1  mentioned,  which 
is  now   nearly  destroyed ;   and  this  old  description  is  therefore  very  valuable, 
not  only  as  showing  what  it  was  like,  but  also  that  it  was  like  the  others  ;  Dr. 
Garden  however  understates  the  diameter,  as  a  comparison  of  his  own  figures 
shows. — A.  L.  L. 

VOL.  XVII.  E 


50  A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen. 

26  paces  distance,  there  is  a  big  stone,  fast  in  the  ground  and 
level  with  it,  in  which  there  is  a  cavity,  partly  natural  and 
partly  artificial,  that  will  contain,  as  I  guess,  no  less  than  a 
Scotch  gallon  of  water,  and  may  be  supposed  to  have  served  for 
washing  the  priests,  sacrifices,  and  other  things  esteemed  sacred 
among  the  heathen.  Thp.  other  monument,  which  is  full  as 
large  if  not  larger  than  that  which  I  have  already  described, 
and  distant  from  it  about  a  bowshot  of  ground,  consists  of 
three  circles  having  the  same  common  centre ;  the  stones  of  the 
greatest  circle  are  about  3  yards,  and  those  of  the  two  lesser 
circles  3  feet,  high  above  the  ground,  the  innermost  circle  3 
paces  diameter,  and  the  stones  standing  close  together.  One  of 
the  stones  of  the  largest  circle  on  the  east  side  of  the  monument 
hath  upon  the  top  of  it  (which  is  but  narrow  and  longer  one 
way  than  the  other)  a  hollowness,  about  3  inches  deep,  in  the 
bottom  whereof  is  cut  out  a  trough,  1  inch  deep  and  2  inches 
broad  (with  another  short  one  crossing  it)  that  runs  along  the 
whole  length  of  the  cavity  and  down  by  the  side  of  the  stone  a 
good  way,  so  that  whatsoever  liquid  is  poured  into  the  cavity 
upon  the  top  of  the  stone  doth  presently  run  down  the  side  of 
it  by  this  trough,  and  it  would  seem  that  upon  this  stone  they 
poured  forth  their  libamina  or  liquid  sacrifices ;  there  is  also 
another  stone  in  the  same  circle  and  upon  the  same  side  of  the 
monument  (standing  nearest  to  the  broad  stone  that  stands  on 
edge  and  looks  toward  the  south)  which  hath  a  cavity  on  the 
upper  end  of  it,  it  is  considerably  lower  on  one  side  and  will 
contain  about  one  English  pint,  at  the  first  sight  it  seemed  to 
me  to  have  been  made  for  burning  a  lamp,  but,  when  I  con- 
sidered that  it  was  sub  dio,  I  found  it  could  not  be  for  that  use, 
afterwards  observing  it  more  narrowly  I  perceived  that  it  was 
cut  after  the  fashion  of  the  cavity  in  the  other  stone  already  de- 
scribed, albeit  not  so  clearly  and  distinctly,  and  that  there  is  a 
natural  fissure  in  the  stone  by  which  all  the  liquor  poured  into 
the  cavity  runs  out  of  it  down  by  the  side  of  the  stone  to  the 
ground.1 

"  The  general  tradition  throughout  this  kingdom  concerning 
these  kind  of  monuments  is  that  they  were  places  of  worship  and 
sacrifice  in  heathen  times,  few  of  them  have  particular  names. 
In  this  part  of  the  country  they  are  commonly  called  standing 

1  The  next  stone  to  the  broad  stone  is  usually  one  of  the  highest  in  the  circle, 
and  according  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  would  have  been  three  yards  high,  in  which  case 
he  would  hardly  have  seen  the  cavity  at  the  top.  This  description  in  every 
other  respect  agrees  with  the  second  circle  from  the  south,  where  the  highest 
stone  now  remaining  is  six  feet  high,  so  that  an  error  has  evidently  been  com- 
mitted, either  in  his  original  letter  or  in  copying  it.  The  stone  next  to  the  altar 
stone  on  the  east  has  now  been  removed,  but  its  fellow  is  about  five  feet  high. — 
A.  L.  L. 


\ 

A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen.  5L 

stones,  and  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  where  the  Irish  tongue 
is  spoken,  they  call  them  caer,  which  signifies  a  throne,  an 
oracle,  or  a  place  of  address,  as  I  am  informed  by  a  judicious 
person  here,  who  understands  that  language,  and  was  lately  in 
those  parts  where,  he  says,  they  have  such  a  superstitious 
veneration  for  these  monuments  that  they  will  not  meddle  with 
any  of  their  stones  or  apply  them  to  another  use ;  and  being 
lately  at  Auchincorthie,  I  was  told  that  a  poor  man  who  lives 
there  having  taken  a  stone  away  from  one  of  the  neighbouring 
monuments  above  described  and  put  it  into  his  hearth  was,  by  his 
own  relation,  troubled  with  a  deal  of  noise  and  din  about  his 
house  in  the  night  time  until  he  carried  back  the  stone  unto  the 
place  where  he  found  it.1 

"  Some  of  them  are  called  chapels  ....  others  are  called 
temples  ....  and  those  two  whereof  I  have  given  you  a  par- 
ticular description  are  called  by  the  people  that  live  near  by 
'  Law  Stones,'  for  what  reason  I  know  not,  and  '  Temple  Stones.'2 
They  have  a  tradition  that  the  pagan  priests  of  old  dwelt  in 
that  place,  Auchincorthie,  and  there  are  yet  to  be  seen  at  a  little 
distance  from  one  of  the  monuments  standing  there  the  founda- 
tions of  an  old  house  which  is  said  to  have  been  their  Teind 
Barn ;  they  report  likewise  that  the  priests  caused  earth  to  be 
brought  from  other  adjacent  places  upon  people's  backs  to 
Auchincorthie  for  making  the  soil  thereof  deeper,  which  is  given 
for  the  reason  why  this  parcel  of  land,  though  surrounded  with 
heath  and  moss  on  all  sides  is  better  and  more  fertile  than 
other  places  thereabouts.3  All  these  names  (except  the  first) 
confirm  the  general  tradition  concerning  these  monuments,  that 
tl  icy  were  places  of  worship,  and  some  of  them,  as  that  of  the 
'  temple '  and  '  temple  stones,'  declare  that  they  have  not  been 
erected  by  Christians,  or  for  their  use,  which  their  structure  also 

doth    sufficiently    demonstrate    besides Old  Aberdeen, 

loth  June,  1692." 

1  It  is  much  to  be  wished  that  all  destroyers  of  rude  stone  monuments  and 
especially  those  of  Avebury,  had  been  plagued  in  the  like  or  some  worse  manner, 
and,  if  the  Welsh  bards  who  are  coming  to  London  this  year  have  had  handed 
down  to  them  any  particularly  awful  Druiclic  form  of  curse,  warranted  to  wear 
in  the  next  world  as  well  as  in  this,  I  would  suggest  that  they  should  imme- 
diately put  it  in  force  against  all  circle-destroyers,  past,  present,  or  future.    This 
superstition  would,  however,  have  assisted  to  prevent  the  removal  of  Mr.  Mac- 
lagan's  imaginary  masses  of  masonry,  and  therefore  diminishes  the  very  slight 
possibility  of  their  ever  having  existed. — A.  L.  L. 

2  The  editor  of  Archseologia  notes  to  this : — "  From  barrows  and  heaps   of 
stones  being  intended  for  sepulchres  they  are  called  Lows  in  Staffordshire  (and 
he  might  have  added  Derby shire )  and  Lawes  in  Ireland,"  (Antiq.  Corn.,  1st  Ed., 
p.  200). 

3  This  tradition, which  seems  rather  absurd  at  first  sight,  may  have  arisen  from 
the  custom  which  we  know  to  have  prevailed  of  bringing  earth  and  stones  from 
a  distance  to  form  special  parts  of  tumuli  and  circles. — A.L.L. 

E   2 


52  A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen. 

This  date  and  these  last  sentences  are  of  the  very  greatest 
importance  for  this  reason  : — Mr.  John  Stuart  and  other  writers 
of  what  I  may  call  the  anti-Druidic  school  have  advanced  the 
propositions  that  "  the  theory  which  ascribes  to  stone  circles  the 
purpose  of  temples  or  courts  is  modern  and  unsupported  by 
facts."  .  ..."  In  the  seventeenth  century  a  theory  was  pro- 
posed by  two  English  writers,  John  Aubrey  and  William 
Stukeley,  which  ascribed  the  great  circles  of  Stonehenge  and 
Avebury  to  the  Druids  as  their  temples,  and  since  their  day  all 
stone  circles  have  been  called  Druidical  circles."1  These  pro- 
positions must,  however,  be  now  and  for  ever  abandoned  in 
view  of  the  proof  contained  in  this  letter,  printed  in  Archseo- 
logia  120  years  ago,  but  written  nearly  200  years  ago  to  Aubrey 
himself,  who  was  the  earlier  of  the  two  writers  (for  Stukeley 
lived  not  in  the  seventeenth  but  in  the  eighteenth  century),  that 
at  that  time  the  "  general  tradition "  concerning  the  Scotch 
circles  was  that  they  were  "  places  of  worship  and  sacrifice  in 
heathen  times." 

It  is  true  Dr.  Garden  uses  the  word  priest  instead  of  Druid, 
and  says  that  he  finds  no  mention  of  Druids,  but  he  himself 
evidently  looks  upon  the  priests  in  question  as  Druids,  and  we 
know  from  other  sources  that  the  Druids  were  the  priests  of  the 
Celts  and  would  tolerate  no  rivals. 

In  former  papers  on  stone  circles  I  have  insisted  very  strongly 
on  the  presence  of  a  special  reference  to  the  north-east,  and  have 
drawn  various  conclusions  therefrom,  but,  as  regards  the  two 
comparatively  perfect  circles  I  have  described  (although  in  the 
Dyce  circle  there  is  an  indication  of  a  north-easterly  reference) 
the  main  direction  is  north  and  south,  and  not  north-east  and 
south-west;  if  this  were  the  only  difference  between  these 
circles  and  those  of  southern  Britain  it  might  fairly  be  said  that 
what  I  had  previously  pointed  out  about  the  north-east  was  a 
mere  collection  of  accidental  coincidences,  but  there  is  another 
most  palpable  difference  which,  when  brought  to  notice,  cannot 
fail  to  strike  the  most  casual  observer ;  the  oblong  stone,  flanked 
by  two  upright  stones,  which  is  the  principal  feature  in  these 
circles  appears,  so  far  as  I  have  yet  been  able  to  discover, 
nowhere  except  in  the  Aberdeen  district,  where  on  the  other 
hand  it  is  almost  universal.  It  is  true  that,  though  I  visited  six 
sites,  I  only  found  two  circles  sufficiently  well  preserved  to  draw 
any  conclusions  from,  but  I  am  fortunately  not  entirely  dependent 
on  my  own  observation.  The  Rev.  James  Peter,  Incumbent  of 
Old  Deer,  read  a  paper  on  the  subject  before  the  Anthropological 

1  Transactions  of  International  Congress  of  Prehistoric  Archaeology,  1868,  and 
Sculptured  Stones  of  Scotland,  Vol.  2. 


A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen.  53 

Section  of  the  British  Association  at  Aberdeen,  at  which  I  was 
present ;  the  substance  of  this  paper  is  published  with  plans  and 
illustrations  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of 
Scotland,  1884—5,  and  I  exhibit  tracings  from  those  plans  and 
illustrations,  showing  this  arrangement  of  one  oblong  and  two 
upright  stones  in  three  circles,  and  from  the  illustrations  to  Col. 
Forbes  Leslie's  "  Early  Races  of  Scotland,"  showing  the  same 
arrangement  in  three  other  circles  and  from  Mr.  Maclagan's 
book  before  quoted  showing  it  in  four  other  circles  which,  added 
to  the  two  I  have  myself  described  to  you,  make  twelve  circles 
in  which  I  can  prove  pictorially  that  the  oblong  stone  with  its 
two  supporters  occurs,  though,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  has  been 
much  more  general.  Mr.  Peter  stated  that  in  fifteen  circles  he 
was  acquainted  with,  the  "altar,"  as  this  oblong  stone  is  popularly 
called,  was  at  the  south,  and  that  in  two  circles  it  faced  north- 
east ;  at  the  Strichen  circle  the  "  altar  "  is  at  the  north  instead 
of  the  south,  and  at  Sinhinny  it  appears  to  be  at  the  west ;  at 
the  "  White  Cow  Wood  "  circle  there  is  no  "  altar,"  but  the  largest 
stones  are  at  the  south  and  a  dolmen  occupies  the  north-east 
corner  of  the  circle.  It  is,  however,  clear  that  the  "  altar  "  and 
its  supporters  were  prominent  in  most  of  the  circles  of  the 
Aberdeen  district,  but  I  cannot  find,  either  from  friends  of  whom 
I  have  enquired,  or  from  books  which  I  have  consulted,  that  they 
occur  anywhere  else;  even  in  what  I  may  call  the  Inverness 
district,  not  fifty  miles  distant,  but  divided  from  the  Aberdeen 
district  in  places  by  mountains  more  than  four  thousand  feet 
high,  it  seems  that,  though  there  are  concentric  circles,  there  are 
no  "  altars."1 

The  circle  in  England  which,  as  I  think,  most  resembles  those 
near  Aberdeen  and  Inverness  is  that  at  Gunnerkeld  in  West- 
moreland, described  by  me  in  the  "  Journal  of  the  Anthropo- 
logical Institute"  (November,  3885,  Vol.  XV,  page  167),  and 
pronounced  by  Mr.  Dymond  and  myself  to  be  in  all  probability 
a  tomb  rather  than  a  temple,  but  it  has  nothing  like  an  "  altar  " 
stone.  Certain  structures  known  as  "  Giant's  Graves  "  in  the 
north  of  Ireland,  and  described  by  Dr.  Sinclair  Holden  in 
"Anthropologia,"  had  some  points  of  resemblance  in  principle,  but 
still  more  of  difference  in  form  ;  they  consisted  of  a  long  covered 
burial  chamber  running  from  north-east  to  south-west  with  a 
separate  covered  niche,  open  to  the  air  and  facing  outwards  at 
the  south-west  end  of  it,  which  might  have  been  a  sort  of  altar 
place  ;  these  were  surrounded  by  an  oblong  wall  of  stones  form- 
ing a  promenade  round  the  chamber,  like  that  between  the  outer 

1  See  for  example  Mr.  Fraser's  "  Descriptive  Notes  on  Stone  Circles  of  Strath- 
nairn  and  neighbourhood  of  Inverness,"  in  Proceedings  of  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
Scotland,  12th  May,  188-1. 


54  A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen. 

and  inner  circles  in  Scotland,  and  Dr.  Sinclair  Holden  remarks 
that  the  covered  niche  never  occurs  without  this  surrounding 
wall  of  stone ;  notwithstanding  the  difference  in  shape,  therefore,  I 
am  inclined  to  regard  the  Aberdeen  circles  as  having  more  affinity 
to  the  "Giant's  Graves"  than  to  the  English  circles  to  which  it  has 
always  been  sought  to  ally  them.  Considering  the  relative  position 
of  this  part  of  Scotland  it  might  have  been  thought  that  the 
Aberdeen  circles  and  "  altars "  had  been  constructed  under  a 
Norwegian  influence,  but  I  cannot  find  that  any  such  arrange- 
ment of  stones  exists  in  any  part  of  Scandinavia  ;  it  may  be  that 
this  peculiar  form  of  circle  was  developed  by  some  tribe  or 
tribes  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  by  the  sea,  the  mountains, 
and  hostile  populations  ;  certain  it  is  that  different  countries  have 
their  specialities  in  rude  stone  monuments  as  in  other  things, 
and  that  the  use  of  unhewn  stones  is  no  proof  of  the  intercourse 
or  common  origin  of  the  users  unless  they  be  used  in  some  more 
markedly  similar  manner  than  a  mere  placing  of  them  in  circles. 
In  the  oblong  "  altar  "  stone,  flanked  by  two  upright  stones  we 
have  a  very  obvious  difference,  which,  combined  with  the  absence 
of  any  such  marked  reference  to  the  north-east  as  exists  in  the 
circles  of  southern  Britain,  might  almost  lead  us  to  suppose  that 
the  circles  of  the  two  countries  were  constructed  by  a  different 
set  of  people,  and  perhaps  for  a  different  purpose,  but  I  am  not 
aware  that  this  has  been  previously  pointed  out,  most  writers 
seeming  rather  to  dwell  upon  the  points  of  resemblance  between 
the  circles  of  all  countries.  From  their  great  number  and  close 
contiguity,  and  from  remains  found  in  them,1  it  might  seem  more 
likely  in  the  case  of  the  Aberdeen  circles  than  in  that  of  most 
English  circles  that  their  primary  object  was  sepulchral,  but  the 
traditions  already  mentioned  and  the  avenue  between  the  inner 
and  outer  circles  are  suggestive  of  periodical  processional  or 
other  rites  culminating  in  some  special  observance  before  the  so- 
called  "altar"  stones.  Mr.  John  Stuart  and  Mr.  Fergusson, 
though  differing  as  to  their  date  and  origin,  both  maintain  the 
Scotch  circles  to  have  been  purely  sepulchral,  ignoring  the 
common  and,  as  I  have  shown,  long-standing  traditions  concern- 
ing them,  and,  having  established  this  to  their  own  satisfaction, 
and  finding  in  southern  Britain  other  circles,  with  differences  of 
construction  of  which  they  take  no  notice,  they  conclude  that 

2  See  lift  in  "  Sculptured  Stones  of  Scotland,"  edited  by  John  Stuart,  Esq., 
for  the  Spalding  Club.  With  special  regard  to  the  number  and  contiguity  how- 
ever Colonel  Forbes  Leslie  says  "  several  stone  circles,  close  together,  even  inter- 
secting each  other,  and  lately  erected  to  the  same  object  of  worship — viz.,  to 
Vital — may  any  day  be  seen  in  secluded  rocky  places  near  towns  and  villages  of 
the  Dekhan  in  India.  Near  Poonah  they  are  extremely  common." — ''  Early 
Kaces  of  Scotland,"  page  214. 


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A.  L.  LEWIS. — Stone  Circles  near  Aberdeen.  55 

those  circles  also  must  be  purely  sepulchral,  Mr.  Stuart,  in 
particular,  saying  that  unless  some  other  difference  than  that  of 
size  can  be  shown  to  exist  he  must  decline  to  admit  any  difference 
of  purpose.  I  have  now  shown  two  other  differences  to  exist 
between  the  circles  near  Aberdeen  and  those  of  England  and 
Wales,  namely,  the  oblong  "  altar  "  stone  at  the  south,  present  in 
the  Aberdeen  district  but  absent  in  England  and  Wales,  and  the 
north-easterly  references,  indicative  of  sun-worship,  and  some- 
times of  mountain  and  phallic  worship,  which  are  prominent  in 
England  and  Wales,  but  only  subsidiary  in  the  Aberdeen  district. 

Explanation  of  Plate  III. 

Two  plans  and  ten  sketches  of  "Altar  Stones,"  showing  the 
arrangement  of  an  oblong  stone  with  two  supporters  peculiar 
to  the  Aberdeen  district,  copied  from  illustrations  to  Mr. 
Maclagan's  "  Hill  Forts,  Stone  Circles,  &c.,  of  Ancient  Scot- 
land ;"  to  Colonel  Forbes  Leslie's  "  Early  Eaces  of  Scotland ;" 
to  Eev.  J.  Peters'  paper  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  of  Scotland ;  and  from  original  sketches  by  the 
author. 

DISCUSSION. 

Dr.  JOHN  EVANS  complimented  Mr.  Lewis  on  the  care  lie  had 
bestowed  in  examining  and  describing  these  Scottish  monuments. 
There  were,  he  thought,  two  points  especially  worthy  of  notice. 
One,  the  presence  of  stones  of  a  kind  that  must  have  been 
brought  from  a  distance,  and  that  were  used  for  the  so-called 
"  altar  stones."  Analogies  in  this  respect  might  be  found  among 
southern  stone  circles.  The  second  point  was  the  extent  of  the 
destruction  of  these  stone  circles  within  comparatively  recent 
times.  He  suggested  that  the  attention  of  General  Pitt  Rivers,  as 
the  Inspector  of  Ancient  Monuments,  should  be  called  to  these 
Aberdeenshire  circles.  As  an  illustration  of  the  employment  of 
concentric  circles  in  places  of  worship,  he  mentioned  the  church 
of  San  Stefano  at  Rome,  which  is  of  early  date,  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  which  in  three  concentric  circles  may  have  been  suggested 
by  some  far  earlier  monument.  He  regarded  the  question  as  to 
whether  the  Scottish  priests  referred  to  by  the  author  were  Druids 
or  not,  as  involving  many  difficulties  which  could  not  be  summarily 
discussed. 

Miss  BUCKLAND  inquired  whether  Mr.  Lewis  had  found  any  cup- 
markings  or  basin-like  hollows  in  the  stones  he  had  examined, 
especially  on  the  so-called  "altar  stones."  Referring  to  the  position 
of  the  circles  as  regards  the  cardinal  points,  Miss  Buckland  called 
Mr.  Lewis's  attention  to  the  abstract  of  Mr.  Peter's  paper  read  at 
the  Aberdeen  meeting  of  the  British  Association,  in  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  author,  there  would  seem  to  be  a  special  arrangement  of 


56  Discussion. 

the  "altar  stone"  on  the  south  meridian  in  fourteen  cases  out  of 
seventeen,  whilst  in  the  three  exceptions  it  faces  north-east,  and  of 
one  circle  Mr.  Peter  proved  by  measurements  that  the  table  stone 
of  the  dolmen  standing  in  the  centre  was  so  placed  as  to  face  the 
point  of  the  horizon  in  which  the  sun  rises  on  Midsummer  dav. 

Dr.  GARSON  remarked  in  reference  to  the  observations  that  Mr. 
Lewis  had  made  regarding1  the  stones  comprising  the  circles  in 
Aberdeenshire  not  being  obtained  apparently  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  circle,  that  the  stones  composing  the  circle  of  Stennis,  in 
the  Orkney  Islands,  appear  to  have  been  brought  from  a  quarry 
situated  in  the  hills  between  Qnoyloo  and  Marwick,  about  eight  miles 
or  more  distant.  In  that  quarry  there  are  several  stones  lying  on 
their  sides  corresponding  closely  in  size  and  form  to  those  of  the 
circle.  There  is  no  quarry  near  the  circle  known  from  which  they 
could  be  taken.  The  question  naturally  arises  how  the  erectors  of 
these  ancient  circles,  with  probably  only  rude  mechanical  appliances 
at  their  disposal,  managed  to  transport  these  large  stones,  which 
frequently  measure  from  18  to  20  feet  long,  by  3  to  4  feet  broad, 
and  9  inches  to  a  foot  thick,  so  great  a  distance  over  rough  hilly 
ground  to  their  present  resting  place. 

Mr.  BouvERiE-PusEY  remarked  that  he  was  much  surprised  that 
the  author  of  the  paper  seemed  to  countenance  the  idea  that  stone 
circles  had  something  to  do  with  the  Druids.  We  had  long  and 
detailed  notices  of  the  Druids  and  of  their  customs  in  ancient 
authors  with  no  mention  of  stone  circles,  too  characteristic  a 
feature  surely  to  be  omitted,  and  he  believed  that  the  notices  of 
Druidism  found  in  the  old  literature  of  Ireland  were  equally  silent 
on  this  point.  It  was  his  opinion  that  if  stone  circles  were  temples 
at  all  they  must  have  been  the  temples  of  some  pre-historic  period. 

Mr.  HYDE  CLARKE,  after  stating  that  it  was  by  such  investiga- 
tions as  those  of  Mr.  Lewis  that  certain  data  would  be  obtained  for 
the  determination  of  the  epoch  and  purposes  of  the  monuments, 
observed  that  it  was  assumed  the  stones  in  a  circle  must  be 
stationed  equally.  He  thought  it  well  worthy  of  consideration 
whether  intervals  were  not  to  be  found  as  in  pre-historic  and 
existing  arrangements  throughout  the  world.  In  the  plans  before 
them  the  numbers  were  twelve,  thirteen,  sixteen  and  twenty, 
numbers  commonly  found.  Now  in  a  circle  of  twelve  it  might 
happen  that  it  was  divided  three,  four  and  five,  or  six  and  six,  or 
seven  and  five.  It  was  possible  that  the  stones  of  the  Giant's 
Grave  were  to  be  taken  not  as  thirteen,  but  as  twenty-six,  or  twice 
thirteen.  He  should  like  to  see  some  facts  that  Celts  or  Druids 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  stone  monuments  otherwise  than 
making  burials  in  them.  Aberdeenshire  had  traces  of  Iberian 
occupation. 

Mr.  LEWIS  said  in  reply  to  Miss  Buckland  that  he  had  not 
noticed  any  cup-markings  or  hollows  in  any  of  the  stones,  but  it 
was  possible  some  might  have  escaped  his  observation  ;  he  thought, 
however,  the  cavities  described  so  minutely  by  Dr.  Garden  were 


J.  COCKBURN. — Palceolithic  Implements,  South  Mirzapore.     57 

very  likely  natural  weatherings.  Referring  to  Dr.  Hyde  Clarke's 
suggestion  he  had,  be  said,  at  different  times  considered  the  number 
and  arrangement  of  stones  in  circles,  but  had  never  been  able  to 
formulate  any  rule,  or  come  to  any  satisfactory  conclusion.  He 
thought  it  not  unlikely  that  the  erection  of  stone  monuments  was 
begun  by  a  pre-Celtic  race,  but  the  evidence  of  the  objects  found 
in  them  showed  that  they  had  been  used  and  he  believed  con- 
structed down  to  if  not  beyond  the  commencement  of  the  Roman 
occupation.  It  was  perhaps,  surprising  that  the  traditions  men- 
tioned by  Dr.  Garden,  and  similar  though  fainter  traditions  in  other 
places,  should  have  survived,  as  they  must  have  done,  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years  :  but  to  suppose  that  they  had  been  handed 
down  as  traditions  from  a  pre-Celtic  period,  say  three  thousand 
years  ago,  was  sorely  too  much  to  ask  anyone  to  believe.  There 
was  no  doubt  a  want  of  direct  evidence  as  to  the  use  of  stone 
monuments  by  the  Druids,  but  that  proved  nothing,  and  he 
thought  that  such  evidence  as  they  had  showed  that  the  stone 
monuments  were  used  by  the  Celts  with  the  approval  of  their 
Druidic  priesthood.  The  question  of  the  transport  of  large  stones 
had  been  dealt  with  by  him  in  a  paper  on  the  "  Devil's  Arrows  " 
published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Institute  in  November,  1878.  He 
was  much  indebted  to  Dr.  Evans  for  the  reference  to  the  church  of 
San  Stefano  at  Rome. 


On  PALAEOLITHIC  IMPLEMENTS  from  the  DRIFT  GRAVELS  of  the 
SINGRAULI  BASIN,   SOUTH  MIRZAPORE. 

By  J.  COCKBURN,  Esq. 

DURING  Christmas  week,  1883,  I  was  partially  rewarded  for  a 
long  and  tedious  journey  in  a  country  without  water  and  with- 
out roads,  by  discovering  a  locality  where  palaeolithic  implements 
abounded.  So  numerous  were  they  that  I  collected  in  three 
days  five  hundred  implements,  besides  a  vast  collection  of  rude 
flakes  and  spalls  amounting  in  all  to  twelve  sack  loads. 

The  implements  themselves  are  undistinguishable  from  those 
found  by  Messrs.  Foote  and  King  in  the  laterite  of  the  North 
Arcot  district  in  Madras ;  those  by  Mr.  Hacket  in  the  Narbadda 
gravels ;  those  of  Mr.  W.  T.  Blanford  from  Hyderabad  ;  and 
those  of  Mr.  Ball  from  Orissa.  They,  however,  differ  in  being- 
composed  of  a  great  variety  of  rocks,  while  all  those  hitherto 
found  were  either  quartzite  or  vein  quartz. 

The  majority  of  the  implements  in  the  Hinoutee  locality  were 
found  on  undulating  ground,  covered  with  shingle,  over  a  frontage 
of  a  mile  and  a  half  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Balliah  Nadi. 
The  width  of  the  exposed  surface  of  Talchirs  along  this  frontage 
varies  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  mile,  and  between  the  villages  of 
Hinoutee  and  Amaharee. 


58        J.  COCKBUKX. — On  Palceolitliic  Implements  from  the 

The  first  implement  was  discovered  where  the  main  track  to 
the  corundrum  mines  of  Pipra  crosses  the  Balliah  Nadi. 

Here  it  lay  on  the  denuded  surface  of  black  Talchir  needle 
shales,  mingled  with  shingle,  boulders,  and  other  debris  of  what 
was  once  a  gravel  bed.  The  majority  of  the  specimens  were 
found  in  these  positions. 

Here  and  there  the  Talchirs  have  been  cut  into  shallow  ravines 
and  the  sides  and  bottoms  of  all  gullies  are  strewn  and  often 
piled  with  heaps  of  boulders  and  shingle. 

These  boulders  present  a  remarkable  variety  of  colour,  green,1 
white,  red,  purple,  and  black  predominating.  The  Talchir  boulder 
bed  is  also  exposed  at  most  points,  and  the  coloured  boulders 
and  gravel  in  question  have  been  partly  derived  from  the 
decomposition  of  the  needle  shales,  in  which  the  boulders  are 
embedded  and  partly  from  a  superincumbent  gravel  bed  to  be 
described  further  on. 

This  gravel  bed  has  yielded  implements  from  Hinoutee  to 
Mahree2  on  the  Bichee  Nadi,  or  over  a  strip  of  country  twelve 
miles  long  from  east  to  west,  and  four  miles  broad. 

A  slight  sketch  of  the  physical  character  of  the  country  will 
here  be  necessary. 

The  Singrauli  Basin  in  South  Mirzapore  is  the  only  locality 
in  the  North- West  Provinces  where  rocks  of  the  Gondwana 
system  occur. 

Like  other  such  areas  it  may  be  described  as  a  basin-shaped 
depression  in  older  metamorphic  rocks  (gneiss  and  jasperous 
quartzites)  occupied  by  Talchir  and  Damuda  formations,  but  the 
latter  in  British  Singrauli  have  been  almost  entirely  removed  by 
denudation  except  six  or  eight  miles  of  a  range  which  forms  the 
north-west  boundary  of  this  corner  of  Singrauli,  extending  from 
Aundhi  Hill,  lat.  24°  12'  21//,long.  82°  43'  51",  to  Kota  Puchum. 

This  range  is  composed  of  a  characteristic  soft,  gritty  sand- 
stone, Barakar,  which  occasionally  passes  into  a  feeble  con- 
glomerate containing  oval  white  and  green  quartz  pebbles  from 
half  an  inch  to  two  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter. 

It  is  largely  worked  into  millstones  by  aboriginal  Bhuyars8 
who  block  the  stones  into  shape  with  small  iron  axes. 

The  cultivated  portion  of  Singrauli  forms  an  alluvial  depressed 
plain,  on  the  margin  of  a  great  coal  basin,  about  12  miles  long 
and  four  in  width.  The  alluvium  is  for  the  most  part  modified 

1  No  marks  of  polishing  or  scratching  were  noticed  on  the  boulders  from  the 
Talchir  boulder  bed,  although  1  disinterred  several  boulders  on  purpose,  and 
carefully  examined  them. 

2  No  more  than  half  a  dozen  specimens  were  found  at  Mahree. 

3  Some  of  the  Bhuyars  have  a  close  resemblance  to  Australian  aborigines  in 
feature  and  form  of  skull.     But  here  and  there  individuals  with  Aryan  features 
were  noticed.     These  people  continue  to  use  bows  and  poisoned  arrows. 


Drift  Gravels  of  the  Sinyrauli  Basin,  South  Mirzapore.      59 

regur  under  rice.  Except  in  ravines  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Eeyr 
Eiver,1  this  alluvium  is  no  where  thick,  and  may  be  said  to 
uniformly  overlie  a  compact  Talchir  sandstone.  I  had  exceptional 
opportunities  for  testing  the  depth  of  this  alluvium  at  points 
where  no  exposures  occur,  owing  to  the  official  enquiries  I  was 
required  to  make  regarding  wells.  The  alluvium  varies  from 
eight  to  20  feet  in  depth  at  various  points  between  Hinoutee 
and  Mahree,  and  while  the  Talchir  sandstone  forms  a  stratum 
nearly  impervious  to  water,  it  is  a  serious  obstacle  to  well- 
sinking.  The  wells  only  contain  from  three  to  four  and  half  feet 
of  water  but  this  supply  is  pretty  constant. 

In  ravines  in  the  vicinity  of  Gharwar  Gaon  the  alluvium  is  in 
places  50  feet  thick;  clay  cliffs  30  feet  high  occur.  Below  one 
such  cliff  I  obtained  the  fossil  tibia  and  portions  of  the  femur  of 
the  left  pelvic  limb  of  a  large  Bos.  These  bones  were  undis- 
tinguishable  from  those  of  an  adult  male  Bos  gaurus,  with  which 
I  compared  them  in  the  Indian  Museum. 

As  might  be  expected  from  the  shallowness  of  the  alluvium, 
the  minor  streams  in  this  tract  have  cut  their  way  into  the 
Talchir  rocks.  Beautiful  exposures  of  the  glacial  boulder  bed 
occur  at  various  points,  and  pot  holes  are  as  usual  common.  As 
a  stream  approaches  the  Eeyr  it  cuts  deep,  narrow  rifts  into  the 
Talchir  sandstone,  full  of  pellucid  water.  When  still  closer,  to 
the  Eeyr,  as  the  declivity  increases,  gneiss  takes  the  place  of  the 
Talchir,  which  is  nowhere  thick.  Throughout  the  alluvial  basin 
of  Singrauli,  wherever  cut  into  by  watercourses  or  streams,  a 
well-defined  gravel  bed,  from  a  foot  to  three  feet  in  thickness  is 
found  at  the  base  of  the  alluvium,  resting  immediately  upon  the 
Talchir  rocks. 

This  is  the  implement-bearing  gravel  bed,  or  specimen  drift, 
the  subject  of  this  paper.  The  village  of  Mahree,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Bichee  Nadi,  forms  the  extreme  eastern  point  where  the 
implements  have  been  obtained,  while  Hinoutee  forms  the  ex- 
treme western  point.  In  places  the  gravel  bed  is  reduced  to  a 
mere  string  of  pebbles,  occasionally,  even  when  18  inches  thick, 
and  exposed  for  25  or  80  feet,  I  have  failed  to  obtain  conclusive 
fragments  of  human  manufacture,  and  in  some  few  places  the 
gravel  bed  was  not  observed  at  all,  but  this  is  very  exceptional. 

The  gravel  bed  is,  as  i  rule,  pierced  in  well-sinking,  and  the 
minor  forms  of  the  gravel  are  usually  visible  round  the  mouth  of 
the  well,  if  it  is  a  new  one.  The  wells  are  of  small  diameter, 
three  to  four  feet,  and  the  gravel  conglomerate,  firmly  cemented 

1  Here  several  flat  oblong  polished  celts  of  diorite  were  obtained  by  me  in  the 
ravines,  and  two  singularly  sharp  bevelled  fragments  of  the  cutting  edges  of 
polished  celts,  which  were  in  all  probability  broken  in  use.  1  have  constantly 
found  such  chips  in  Banda. 


60         J.  COCKBURN. — On  Palaeolithic  Implements  from  the 

as  it  is  with  carbonate  of  lime,  is  not  easily  broken  up  with  the 
rude  tools  at  the  command  of  the  villagers.  Whatever  the  cause 
I  have  only  found  two  rude  and  doubtful  fragments  which  bore 
evidences  of  human  workmanship  brought  up  in  this  way.  They 
have  since  become  mixed  with  the  rest  of  the  collection. 

The  first  axe-head  picked  up  was,  strange  to  say,  one  of  the 
most  perfect  found  :  a  rapid  search  was  rewarded  by  the  discovery 
of  a  pile  of  specimens  weighing  over  a  hundred  pounds,  and  as  I 
was  only  accompanied  by  a  single  attendant  I  was  obliged  to 
make  a  selection  of  these,  and  leave  the  remainder  behind. 
The  next  day  I  pitched  my  tent  on  the  spot  and  began  my 
inquiries. 

From  the  large  number  of  implements,  and  from  various  other 
considerations,  I  concluded  that  the  spot  where  they  were  found 
had  been  the  seat  of  a  manufactory  and  that  the  implements 
had  not  been  drift-borne  from  over  extensive  areas.  Thus,  the 
whole  of  the  gravel  stratum  is  not  equally  prolific  of  implements; 
indeed  they  are  rare  elsewhere.  The  spalls  (i.e.,  chips)  struck  in 
the  manufacture  of  these  implements,  and  the  huge  primary 
flakes  from  which  they  were  manufactured  are  found  here ;  and  I 
consider  that  the  bulk  of  my  specimens  (say  95  per  cent.)  are 
unfinished  implements. 

The  implements  show  signs  of  rolling,  and  weathering,  and 
occasionally  bear  deposits  of  carbonate  of  lime.  They  are  very 
unequally  worn,  some  having  the  edges  sharp,  others  being  much 
worn  and  rounded.  When  broken  across  on  purpose,  they  show 
that  the  material  has  altered  in  colour  to  the  depth  of  a  tenth  of 
an  inch  and  often  more.  The  amount  of  wear  and  weathering 
on  the  celts  is  the  same  as  that  exhibited  by  fragments  of  similar 
rocks  in  the  shingle. 

No  trace  of  fossil  animal  remains  was  found  in  the  immediate 
vicinity. 

The  celts  were  found  in  situ,  both  in  exposed  sections  of  the 
gravel  and  in  sinking  pits,  where  the  superincumbent  alluvium 
is  from  two  to  three  feet  thick. 

The  amount  of  concretionary  deposit  on  celts  naturally 
weathered  out  is  less  than  on  those  won  by  digging. 

All  the  rocks  which  occur  in  the  Talchir  boulder  bed  are 
represented  in  the  collection. 

No  polished  implements  occurred  mingled  with  the  roughly 
chipped;  nor  any  implements  formed  of  feldspathic  rocks,  or  of 
jade.  Stone  hammers  occur  in  the  proportion  of  about  3  per 
cent.  Flakes  are  found,  but  they  are  very  coarse,  and  possibly 
doubtful. 

About  12  feet  of  alluvium  occurs  at  various  points,  but  on 
carefully  examining  it  110  implements  were  found.  There  are 


Drift  Gravels  of  the  Singrauli  Basin,  South  Mirzapore.     61 

no  indications  of  celts  or  rude  flakes  in  the  Talchir  boulder  bed 
itself,  in  two  or  three  cases  there  are  chips  on  the  broad  ends 
of  the  lanceolate  specimens  which  seem  to  have  been  caused  by 
use,  but  as  a  rule  the  broad  end  is  unfinished  and  often  bears  a 
piece  of  the  crust  of  the  original  pebble.  The  pointed  end,  on 
the  contrary,  is  nearly  always  finished. 

It  will  now  be  necessary  to  give  a  description  of  the  composi- 
tion and  nature  of  the  gravel. 

The  gravel  stratum  varies  from  two  and  a-half  feet  in  thickness 
to  one  foot  in  parts.  This  in  the  Hinoutee  locality  is  composed 
of  boulders,  pebbles,  subangular  fragments,  cubical  fragments, 
masses  of  limestone,  &c.  The  boulders  vary  from  18  inches  in 
diameter  to  tiny  pebbles  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  whole  is 
loosely  cemented  into  a  mass  by  carbonate  of  lime.  In  places, 
as  opposite  Amaharee,  the  cementing  matrix  is  exceedingly  hard 
and  difficult  to  dig  into.  Here  the  superincumbent  alluvium  is 
from  twelve  to  fourteen  feet  thick,  and  the  gravel  stratum  pro- 
jects some  ten  feet  into  the  river's  bed  in  a  bold  promontory, 
having  so  far  resisted  the  erosion  of  the  river,  and  offering  an 
exceptionally  fine  field  for  observation.  The  gravel  here, 
as  elsewhere,  rests  directly  upon  the  Talchir  boulder  bed, 
the  lower  strata  of  the  gravel  actually  touching  it.  The 
rocks  which  occur  in  the  gravel  are  almost  identical  with  those 
in  the  Talchir  boulder  bed,  and  I  find  I  have  noted  them  as 
parti-coloured  jaspers,  jasper-conglomerate  boulders,  pink  gneiss, 
hornblendic  gneiss,  porphyritic  gneiss,  tourmaline  granite,  lumps 
of  epidote  and  epidotic  granite,  pegmatite,  vein  quartz,  quart- 
zites  of  all  colours,  cherts,  and  even  graphitic  schist. 

I  cannot  identify  the  quartzite  with  any  existing  upper  Vend- 
hian1  quartzite  beds  with  which  I  am  acquainted  in  the  country 
between  Urgoorh  Ghat  and  Burdhee.  The  first  implement 
found  in  situ  was  a  hundred  yards  lower  down  than  the  project- 
ing bed.  Here  a  magnificent  section  of  the  drift  gravel  is 
exposed  for  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  along  the  east 
bank,  covered  with  alluvium  from  10  to  14  feet  thick. 

The  specimen,  an  unfinished  hache,  lay  with  a  portion  of  the 
worked  point  projecting,  firmly  cemented  in  the  hard  mass. 
Its  position  was  slightly  below  the  middle  of  the  mass,  and  it 
required  to  be  chiseled  out  with  a  cold  chisel  and  hammer.  It 
is  uniformly  covered  with  a  fine  deposit  of  carbonate  of  lime, 
except  on  the  projecting  portion. 

The  following  section  will  give  some  idea  of  the  relations  of 
the  gravel  bed,  Talchir,  and  superincumbent  alluvium.  The 

1  The  lower  Vendhians  seem  everywhere  to  give  way  and  disappear  with  far 
greater  rapidity  than  the  upper  Vendhians.  This  is  very  noticeable  in  the 
Banda  district. 


62         J.  COCKBURN. — On  Palceolitliw  Implements  from  the 

Talchir  beds  are  of  very  uneven  thickness,  and  the  dip  rolling. 
For  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  Indian  geology  the 
following  brief  sketch  of  this  characteristic  formation  is 
appended. 


SECTION    ON    EIGHT    BANK    OP   THE   BALLIAH   NADI,    OPPOSITE    HINOTTTEK. 

A.    Alluvium.      B.  Gravel,   containing  the  implements.      C.  Talchir   boulder- 
beds.     D.  Red  sandstone.     E.  Green  sandstone. 


The  Talchirs  form  the  base  of  the  Gondwana  series  and  rest 
on  metamorphic  gneissic  rocks :  their  thickness  has  been 
estimated  at  from  five  to  900  feet,  as  a  rule,  and  in  the  area 
described,  notably,  "  they  form  thin,  irregular  beds,  filling  up 
hollows  in  the  metamorphic  rocks  which  latter  are  often 
exposed  through  the  Talchirs  by  denudation "  (Griesbach, 
Mem.  Geolog.  Surv.  Ind.,Vol.  xiv,  p.  14,  "  Eatnkola  and  Tatapani 
Coalfield  ").  The  porphyritic  gneiss  of  Pipra  is  the  rock  most 
commonly  thus  exposed. 

The  Talchir  rocks  consist  of  silty  greenish  or  blackish  shales, 
splitting  into  angular  pieces  (being  jointed  in  three  directions), 
or  of  tolerably  compact  green  and  red  feldspathic  sandstones, 
occasionally  slightly  gritty.  The  terms  mudstones  and  needle 
shales  admirably  describe  the  appearance  of  the  former.  The 
boulder  bed  is  usually  green  or  black  silty  shale.  In  this 
indurated  matrix  occur  pebbles  and  boulders  of  all  sizes  from 
an  oval  pebble  one  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length  to  blocks  15 
feet  in  diameter. 

The  Talchir  boulder  bed  is  now  generally  admitted  to  be  of 
glacial  origin,  and  is  attributed  to  the  close  of  the  palaeozoic 
epoch.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  no  single  fragment  which 
bore  the  slightest  resemblance  to  even  the  rudest  implement 


Drift  Gravels  of  the  Singrauli  Basin,  South  Mirzapore.     63 

has  yet  been  found  in  the  boulder  bed,  though  I  have  searched 
it  in  vain  for  many  miles. 

The  Talchir  boulder  bed  has  been  supposed  to  be  of  the  same 
age  as  a  very  similar  formation  at  the  base  of  the  coal-bearing 
rocks  in  South  Africa.  These  rocks  are  described  by  Mr.  Gooch 
in  his  paper  on  the  stone  age  of  South  Africa  ("  Journ.  Anthrop. 
Inst.,"  1881,  page  167),  as  "  fine  highly  laminated  shale  with 
boulders  included."  It  would  appear  from  his  geological 
diagram,  that  the  quaternary  alluvium  and  gravels  which  have, 
yielded  palaeolithic  implements  in  such  abundance  cap  this 
boulder  formation  at  more  than  one  point,  but  I  have  not 
clearly  made  this  out  from  the  letterpress,  and  may  be  mis- 
taken. As  noted  by  Mr.  Worthington  Smith  in  the  discussion 
that  followed  the  reading  of  Mr.  Gooch's  paper,  the  palaeolithic 
specimens  of  celts  very  closely  resemble  those  from  Madras,  and 
I  may  add,  the  Singrauli  gravels. 

This  brings  me  to  Messrs.  Foote  and  King's  discovery  of  im- 
plements in  the  laterite  of  the  North  Arcot  District,  Madras. 

Mr.  Foote's  discovery  was  made  in  1865,  and  the  results 
published  in  the  "  Madras  Journal  of  Literature  and  Science," 
for  October,  1866. 

Most  of  his  specimens  were  found  in  broken-up  shingle,  the 
debris  of  a  laterite  conglomerate  composed  of  quartzite  pebbles  ; 
but  some  appear  to  have  been  found  embedded  in  solid 
laterite  itself  ;  this  appears,  likewise,  to  have  contained  pebbles. 

The  laterite  conglomerate  either  rested  on  metamorphic 
gneissic  rocks,  or  on  rocks  which  belong  to  the  Upper  Gondwana 
system,  the  Sri  Permatur  shales.  These  shales  are  of  possibly 
similar  age  to  the  Talchir  sandstones,  and  the  thickness, 
composition,  and  deposit  of  the  laterite  gravel  is  very  similar  to 
the  Singrauli  gravel,  substituting  lime  as  the  cementing  matrix 
in  the  place  of  laterite. 

No  laterite  is  found  near  Hinoutee,  but  it  caps  the  Pats  of 
Sirgoojah  30  miles  south,  and  even  occurs  north  of  the  Sone 
liiver,  near  Sookerit,  21  miles  south  of  Chunar,  on  the  Ganges. 

I  personally  compared  my  specimens  with  such  of  Mr.  Foote's 
as  were  exhibited  in  the  Calcutta  Exhibition  of  1884,  and  the 
specimens  are  so  veiy  similar,  that  it  would  hardly  be  possible 
to  separate  them  were  they  mixed  together.  Every  type 
figured  by  him  is  represented  in  the  collection  made. 

He  supposes  that  the  laterite  conglomerates  and  sands  were 
deposited  at  the  bottom  of  a  shallow  sea  studded  with  moun- 
tainous islands,  between  which  flowed  strong  and  rapid  currents, 
and  that  the  implements  were  either  dropped  by  accident  from 
rafts  or  boats,  or  accumulated  by  the  upsetting  of  these  craft. 

He  divides  his  implements  into  three  classes  : — 


64     J.  COCKBURX. — Palceolitliic  Implements,  South  Mirzapore. 

Class  I.  Implements  with  one  blunt  or  truncated  end ;  II. 
Implements  with  a  cutting  edge  all  round  ;  III.  Flakes. 

Mr.  William  King,  in  an  appendix  to  the  above  paper,  was  of 
opinion  that  certain  of  the  sites  were  the  seats  of  manufacture, 
and  with  this  opinion  I  agree. 

It  still  remains  to  account  for  the  extensive  spread  of  the 
gravel  bed  described  by  me  over  so  large  an  area,  and  for  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  celts  show  traces  of  grinding  and  rounding 
of  edges.  It  must,  however,  be  remembered  that  the  alluvium 
is  very  thin  and  that  it  is  quite  possible  that  if  the  existing 
brooks  and  streams  flowed  over  the  bare  Talchir  rocks  and  were 
proportionally  larger,  enormous  quantities  of  shingle  would 
rapidly  form,  from  the  weathering  out  of  the  Talchir  pebbles.  It 
is  easy  to  understand  how  some  of  the  implements  would  be 
submitted  to  greater  rolling  and  grinding  than  others.  The 
variation  in  this  respect,  as  will  seen  from  the  specimens,  is  very 
considerable. 

The  arguments  in  favour  of  the  site,  Hinoutee,  having  been  the 
seat  of  a  manufactory  are  so  strong  as  to  outweigh  any  other 
consideration.  The  arguments  in  favour  of  the  site  having  been 
a  manufactory  are  : — 

1st.  The  presence  of  the  raw  material  which  is  identical  with 
that  of  which  the  palifioliths  are  made. 

2nd.  The  presence  of  recognizable  stone  hammers  in  the 
proportion  of  3  per  cent. 

3rd.  The  presence  of  spalls,  chips,  and  flakes. 

4th.  The  fact  that  specimens  in  all  stages  of  manufacture 
occur,  and  that  the  great  majority  are  obviously  unfinished 
products. 

Neolithic  manufactories  quite  as  extensive  have  been  observed 
by  me  near  Kalnegar,  Kalyanpur,  &c.,  and  are  strewn  with  chert 
and  agate  splinters,  used-up  stone  hammers  and  broken  and 
unfinished  implements. 

My  conclusion  is  that  the  implements  lie  where  they  were 
made,  subsequent  to  their  manufacture ;  and  that  some  20  feet  of 
alluvium  thinly  scattered  with  pebbles  from  one  to  two  inches 
diameter  was  deposited  over  them  by  aqueous  causes,  including 
possible  glacial  action. 

DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  C.  H.  READ  observed  that  the  implements  found  by  Mr. 
Cockburn  in  Mirzapore  formed  a  very  interesting  series,  although 
he  did  not  think  there  was  among  them  any  new  Indian  type. 
They  strongly  resemble,  as  the  author  observed,  those  found  by 
Mr.  Foote,  and  appear  to  be  made  of  the  same  kind  of  stone.  The 
great  similarity  that  exists  between  the  implements  of  the  Drift 
gravels,  whether  in  India  or  Europe,  is  a  yery  curious  point,  and 


Discussion.  65 

one  that  does  not  seem  capable  of  any  satisfactory  explanation 
One  of  these  implements  in  Mr.  Cockburn's  series  might  very  well 
have  been  found  in  Suffolk,  except  that  the  material  is  not  flint; 
in  shape  and  colour  it  absolutely  corresponds.  Looking  at  the 
forms  alone,  and  making  some  allowance  for  the  difference  of 
fracture  between  flint  and  other  stones,  nearly  all  the  shapes  seen 
here  are  found  in  the  Drift  of  Europe.  The  discoidal  implement 
with  an  edge  all  round  might,  perhaps,  be  called  an  exception,  for, 
though  this  form  does  occur  in  England,  it  is  of  rarer  occurrence. 

Mr.  J.  ALLEN-BROWN  remarked  on  the  importance  of  such  a 
collection  as  the  author  had  brought  before  the  Institute.  As 
Mr.  Read  has  observed,  most  of  the  implements  are  of  well-known 
palaeolithic  forms,which  have  been  found  not  only  in  the  oldest  river 
drift  deposits  of  England,  France,  and  Southern  Europe,  generally, 
but  also  in  South  Africa,  in  the  Nile  Valley,  Asia  Minor,  and  India, 
as  well  as  in  the  Trenton  gravels  of  North  America,  which  are  said 
to  be  of  glacial  origin.  The  quartzite  implements,  from  the  laterite 
deposits  of  Madras,  closely  resemble  those  in  this  collection  from 
South  Mirzapore,  and  like  the  former,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
determine  the  age  of  the  specimens.  These  implements  appear  to 
have  been  found  mostly  on  the  surface  of  the  drift  gravels  and  not 
in  those  deposits  :  under  such  circumstances  we  have  no  evidence  of 
the  fauna  which  existed  at  the  time  they  were  fabricated,  and  are, 
therefore,  without  one  of  the  most  trustworthy  tests  of  antiquity. 

Though  form  alone  cannot  afford  evidence  as  to  age  which  can 
safely  be  relied  upon,  the  persistent  occurrence  of  certain  definite 
forms  of  roughly-hewn  pointed  implements  and  chopping  tools 
(examples  of  which  are  in  this  collection),  not  only  in  the  oldest 
river  drift,  but  also  in  the  most  ancient  deposits  of  bone  caves 
Avith  extinct  quaternary  mammalia  is  remarkable — such  a  similarity 
of  form,  however,  may  be  explained  by  the  assumption,  that  early 
man  formed  his  implements  naturally  on  the  simplest  models. 

Some  of  these  instruments  are  worn  as  if  from  use.  There  is  no 
appearance  of  abrasion  from  contact  with  other  stones  in  a  stream, 
but  the  angles  of  fracture,  and  surfaces  of  some  of  them  seem  to  be 
slightly  altered,  probably  by  rain  which  contains  a  small  amount 
of  carbonic  acid,  and  which  may  have  acted  also  as  a  solvent. 

With  regard  to  these  objects  being  found  near  the  surface,  or 
upon  the  gravel  deposits,  Mr.  Allen-Brown  could  well  believe  from 
the  evidence  which  had  been  presented  to  him  in  the  Thames 
Valley  Drift,  that  old  land  surfaces  afterwards  covered  by  gravel 
and  alluvium,  may  subsequently  be  exposed  by  denudation,  and 
that,  as  a  consequence,  palaeolithic  implements  may  be  found  on 
the  present  surface  of  the  land ;  though  roughly  chipped  into 
shape,  he  regarded  the  specimens  exhibited  as  finished  implements, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  spot  at  which  they  were  found,  was 
inhabited  for  a  long  period;  there  is  not  enongh  evidence,  the 
speaker  thought,  of  its  having  been  a  manufactory  of  such  objects 
from  the  discovery,  with  them,  of  a  few  flakes. 

VOL.  XVII.  F 


66         A.  HALE. — Notes  on  Stone  Implements  from  Perak. 

The  following  Notes  were  read  by  the  Assistant  Secretary : — 

NOTES  on  STONE  IMPLEMENTS  from  PERAK. 
By  ABRAHAM  HALE,  Esq. 

IN  "  Nature ''  of  October  29th,  1885,  I  first  drew  attention  to 
two  stone  axes  which  I  had  procured  at  Kinta,  Perak.  I  have 
since  been  able  to  increase  my  collection  by  several  other 
specimens,  all  procured  from  Malays.  Most  of  them  having 
been  preserved  in  the  houses  of  natives  of  this  district  for 
several  generations,  have  been  passed  down  from  father  to  son 
as  heirlooms  of  no  inconsiderable  value.  At  the  present  time 
the  purpose  which  they  serve  is  that  of  whetstones  on  which  to 
sharpen  razors  for  which  they  are  admirably  suited,  being  for 
the  most  part  made  from  what  appears  to  be  a  very  close  and 
fine  grained  stone,  almost  like  greenstone. 

Nearly  all  the  specimens  are  apparently  axes  or  tomahawks 
of  different  descriptions.  Of  these  weapons  or  implements 
almost  every  type  associated  with  the  neolithic  era  seems  to  be 
here  represented  except  those  which  have  been  bored  to  admit 
the  haft  or  otherwise  sculptured  for  the  same  purpose :  of  these, 
however,  I  have  heard  tidings  here,  and  hope  soon  to  procure 
specimens.  With  one  exception  which  was  found  by  a  Sakai 
about  three  feet  deep  in  made  earth,  which  he  was  sluicing  off  to 
procure  tin  sand,  I  can  give  no  history  of  the  finding  of  any  of 
these  specimens,  beyond  the  imperfectly  recollected  statement  of 
the  Malays,  on  which  no  very  great  dependence  can  be  placed — 
every  one  of  them  being  heirlooms. 

I  have  questioned  Malays  concerning  Sakaies  and  also  Sakaies 
themselves  concerning  the  matter :  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
have  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  these  articles  ever  having  had 
any  other  use  beyond  that  of  whetstones  or  lucky  things  to  have 
about  the  house.  Probably  much  light  would  be  thrown  on  the 
matter  if  one  or  two  of  the  numerous  limestone-caves  of  this 
district  could  be  scientifically  explored.  This  task  I  hope  to 
accomplish  before  very  long  myself.  For  my  part  I  think  it 
more  than  probable  that  the  Sakaies  of  early  times,  say  five 
hundred  years  ago,  before  intercourse  with  Malay  traders  was 
established  to  any  extent,  were  the  manufacturers.  These 
specimens  are  now  in  the  Perak  Museum  at  Thaipirig. 

DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  READ  pointed  out  the  great  interest  of  stone  implements  from 
a  new  or  comparatively  unknown  locality,  and  although  there  were 
no  absolutely  new  types  among  the  drawings  exhibited  by  Mr. 


List  of  Presents.  67 

Hale,  yet  it  was  of  importance  to  put  on  record  the  fact,  that  in  the 
small  State  from  which  these  specimens  came,  the  type  is  the  same 
as  that  of  the  neighbouring  islands. 

It  is  by  no  means  surprising  to  find  that  there  is  gome  difficulty 
in  inducing  the  native  possessors  of  these  ancient  implements  to 
p.art  with  them.  Almost  over  the  whole  world  these  relics  of  the 
former  inhabitants  are  regarded  by  the  uncultivated  classes  as  of 
some  supernatural  value,  either  as  medicine,  or  from  the  idea  that 
carrying  them  about  the  person  will  avert  disaster  or  death.  Even 
among  the  ancient  Greeks,  at  the  time  when  a.rt  was  at  its  best, 
flint  arrowpoints  are  found  set  in  jewellery  of  the  most  perfect 
style  and  workmanship,  and  they  can  only  have  been  so  used  in 
the  belief  that  they  carried  with  them  some  mysterious  power.  Dr. 
J.  Anderson,  in  his  excellent  account  of  the  expedition  to  Bhamo, 
mentions  a  similar  belief  among  the  Shans.  Indeed,  in  our  own 
country,  and  at  the  present  day,  instances  are  known  of  people  of 
education  entertaining  the  same  superstitious  belief  in  the  virtues 
of  stone  implements. 


MAKCH  22ND,  1887. 

FKANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.K.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors — 

FOR   THE    LlBRAET. 

From  the  Right  Hon.  the  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  THE  COLONIES. — 

Despatch  from  the  Acting  Administrator  of  Gambia. 
—  Statistics  of  the  Colony  of  New  Zealand  for  the  year  1885. 
From  the  DIRECTOR  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. — 

Bulletin.     Nos.  31-33. 
From   the   AUTHOR. — History  of  the   Sarsens.     By   Professor  T. 

Rupert  Jones,  F.R.S. 
• Syllabus  of  Twelve  Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  British 

Empire.     By  Rev.  Alfred  Caldecott,  M.A. 
-  Ethnographische  Mittheilungen  aus  Venezuela.     By  Hr.  A. 

Ernst. 
Per  la  priorita  di  una  sua  determinazione  di  resti  umani  della 

caverna  della  Palmaria  stali  prima  attribuiti  ad  un  macacus. 

Di  Ettore  Regalia. 
From  the  ROYAL  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. — Archeeological  Journal, 

No.  172. 

F    2 


68         H.  EINK. — The  Migrations  of  the  Eskimo  indicated 

From   the   ASSOCIATION. — Journal    of    the    Royal    Historical  and 

Archaeological  Association  of  Ireland,  No.  67. 
From  the  SOCIETY. — Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society.     No.  251. 

-  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  Nos.  1790-91. 

Proceedings  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  No.  124. 

• Proceedings   of  the   Literary  and   Philosophical   Society  of 

Liverpool.     Vol.  xxxix,  xl. 

Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Borda,  Dax.  1887.     Part  I. 

From  the  EDITOR.— Nature.     Nos.  906-907. 

-  Science.     Nos.  213-214. 

-  Photographic  Times.     No.  285. 
Walford's  Antiquarian,  No.  63. 


Sir  ALLEN  YOUNG,  Sir  L.  McCLiNTOCK,  Mr.  SETON-KARR  and 
Dr.  JOHN  EAE  exhibited  a  large  number  of  ethnological  objects 
principally  from  Arctic  America. 


The  Secretary  read  the  following  paper  : — 

The  MIGRATIONS  of  the  ESKIMO  INDICATED  %  their  PROGKESS  in 
COMPLETING  the  KAYAK  IMPLEMENTS. 

By  DR.  H.  EiNK.1     (Communicated  by  DK.  EGBERT  BROWN). 

IN  a  paper  which  I  had  the  honour  to  present  to  the  Institute 
last  year,  I  tried  to  demonstrate  how  the  dialects  of  the  Eskimo 
tribes  point  to  the  interior  of  Alaska  as  the  probable  home  and 
indicate  the  route  by  which  they  have  spread  over  the  coast 
regions  from  the  Aleutian  Islands  to  Labrador  and  Greenland. 

The  next  question  will  be,  how  do  the  other  peculiarities 
of  the  tribes  agree  with  this  conclusion  ?  Notwithstanding 
the  extreme  simplicity  and  poverty  of  their  mode  of  life,  differ- 
ences can  be  traced  in  their  state  of  culture,  caused  partly  by 
progress  or  new  inventions,  partly  by  certain  habits  being 
permitted  to  fall  into  decadence  during  their  migrations.  The 
problem  is  facilitated  here  by  the  fact  that  the  Eskimo  nation 
has  been  less  exposed  to  that  mixture  and  contact  with  other 
races  which  elsewhere  renders  the  question  more  complicated. 
The  changes  have  here  more  exclusively  been  dependent  on 
natural  influences,  to  which  they  were  subjected  in  their  new 

1  Besides  the  printed  sources  of  information  used  in  the  preparation  of  the 
present  article,  I  have  been  favoured  by  obtaining  special  communications  from 
John  Murdoch,  A.  Jakobsen,  Aurel  and  Arthur  Krause,  relating  to  the  West, 
Franz  Boas  regarding  the  Middle  regions,  and  G.  Holm  concerning  the  extreme 
East  of  the  Eskimo  territory. 


by  their  Progress  in  completing  the  Kayak  Implements.      69 

homes.  For  this  reason  the  farther  we  go  back  towards  their 
supposed  mother  country,  the  more  of  their  original  habits  we 
must  expect  to  find  still  preserved. 

I  shall  try  to  apply  the  investigation  here  indicated  to  the 
chief  Eskimo  invention,  the  kayak,  or  skin  canoe,  and  to  the 
implements  which  belong  to  it.  In  Greenland  the  latter  are 
known  to  consist  of  (1)  The  water-tight  clothes  which  when 
in  due  connection  with  the  kayak  itself,  entirely  covers  it$ 
occupant  excepting  his  face.  (2)  The  double-bladed  paddle.  (3) 
For  ordinary  use :  the  large  harpoon  connected  by  a  line  with 
the  bladder,  intended  for  retarding  and  weakening  the  seal  in 
its  course  through  the  water.  (4)  The  lance  used  to  give  it  the  coup 
de  grace  or  mortal  wounds.  (5)  For  small  seals  :  the  "  bladder- 
arrow,"  or  small  harpoon,  with  a  bladder  fixed  to  its  shaft.  (5) 
The  "  bird-arrow,"  or  javelin,  with  long  subsidiary  hooks  of  bone 
on  the  middle  of  the  shaft  to  strike  the  bird  should  the  hunter 
have  missed  the  mark  with  the  primary  point. 

Beginning  with  the  inland  Eskimo  of  Alaska  we  find  that 
he  is  still  carrying  on  his  fishery  in  the  rivers  by  means  of  the 
birch-bark  canoe  just  like  his  Indian  neighbours,  but  in  settling 
at  the  river  mouth  he  has  exchanged  the  birch  bark  for  skin,  at 
the  same  time  protecting  his  small  skiff  against  the  waves  of  the 
sea  by  a  deck.  This  of  course  may  be  simply  the  origin  of  the 
kayak  ;  we  find  it  subsequently  improved  with  regard  to  its  form 
and  dimensions,  but  otherwise  it  remains  the  same. 

The  implements  mentioned  above  appear  gradually,  as,  after 
having  left  southern  Alaska,  we  proceed  towards  the  north  and 
east.  The  first  of  them,  the  kayak  dress,  has  been  the  latest  to 
acquire  perfection.  At  first  the  dress  appears  to  be  intended 
as  much  for  protection  against  rain  as  against  the  sea.  As  far 
as  I  know  they  do  not  pass  beyond  this  stage  even  in  Labrador, 
and  in  Greenland  not  before  they  enable  the  kayaker  to  be 
quite  independent  of  the  dangers  of  capsizing  or  being  wholly 
covered  by  heavy  sea.  Then,  as  for  propelling  the  kayak,  in 
southern  Alaska,  perhaps  with  exception  of  the  Aleutians  this 
is  performed  merely  by  the  one-bladed  paddle  of  the  Indian 
canoe.  The  first  proper  double-bladed  kayak  paddles  are  met 
with  north  of  the  Yukon  Eiver,  but  even  there  the  one-bladed 
paddle  is  still  used  on  occasions,  almost  as  frequently  as  the 
former,  and  as  far  as  we  are  able  to  judge  from  models, 
this  custom  is  still  maintained  at  the  Anderson  Eiver.  At 
Point  Barrow  the  one-bladed  paddle  always  serves  for  common, 
the  other  only  for  particular  use. 

Then  passing  to  the  weapons,  the  bow  and  arrow  of  the 
Inlanders  are  even  said  to  have  been  carried  on  the  kayak  in 
southern  Alaska.  While  this,  however,  remains  doubtful,  it  is 


70         H.  PJNK. — The  Migrations  of  the  Eskimo  indicated 

still  a  characteristic  fact,  that  some  at  least  of  the  javelins  there 
are  furnished  with  birds'  feathers  like  the  arrows  for  the  land 
chase.  But  in  the  main  it  must  have  been  already  early 
observed,  that  a  seal,  even  when  hit  by  a  harpoon  will  be  able 
to  escape  more  easily  than  a  terrestrial  animal,  namely,  by  diving. 
To  prevent  this,  a  small  inflated  bladder  was  attached  to  the  end 
of  the  harpoon,  and  in  this  way  the  "  bladder-arrow "  of  the 
Greenlanders  was  invented.  Only  for  sea-fowls  this  was  found 
unnecessary,  whereas  the  javelin  for  capturing  them  was 
fashioned  as  mentioned  above. 

The  "  bladder-arrow  "  is  certainly  met  with  on  Kadjak  Island. 
But  by-and-by  we  see  how  it  has  been  found  necessary  to 
enlarge  the  bladder,  and  of  course  at  the  same  time  the  missile, 
by  offering  too  much  surface  to  the  air,  grew  more  and  more  unfit 
for  being  thrown  to  a  suitable  distance.  In  fact,  specimens  from 
Alaska  are  still  seen  of  such  a  shape  as  would  astonish  a  Green- 
lander.  This  inconvenience  then  gave  rise  to  the  invention  of 
the  large  harpoon  and  the  bladder  to  be  separately  thrown  out, 
only  connected  with  the  harpoon  by  means  of  the  long  hunting 
line.  This  contrivance  is  unknown  on  Kadjak  Island ;  passing 
to  the  north,  loose  bladders  as  a  kayak  implement  are  said  to  be 
met  with  for  the  first  time  just  beyond  the  Peninsula  of  Aliaska, 
but  only  as  a  rarity,  and  even  on  Point  Barrow  the  large  loose 
bladder,  like  the  double-bladed  paddle,  is  only  employed  in 
exceptional  cases,  whereas  the  "  bladder-arrow  "  suffices  for  ordi- 
nary use.  I  do  not  know  where  the  more  general  use  of  the 
large  harpoon  and  bladder  begins  ;  but  in  Greenland,  in  accord- 
ance with  ancient  custom,  a  boy  is  not  considered  a  seal-catcher 
before  he  has  captured  his  first  seal  in  this  way. 

Now  there  is  still  one  invention  to  be  mentioned  as  indispen- 
sable in  completing  the  large  harpoon.  This  improvement  also 
makes  its  appearance  gradually  from  south  to  north,  almost  side 
by  side  with  the  loose  bladder.  Experience  must  early  have 
shown  the  usefulness  of  fasieuing  the  point  of  the  javelin  on  its 
shaft  in  such  a  manner,  that  after  having  hit  the  game  it  will  be 
detached  from  the  end  of  the  shaft,  and  only  remain  fastened  to 
it  hanging  by  a  strap.  In  Southern  Alaska  we  see  this  tried  in 
different  ways,  but  further  to  the  north,  along  Behring  Strait,  it 
is  more  perfectly  performed.  The  use  of  the  large  harpoon 
especially  required  that  the  point  should  get  wholly  rid  of  the 
shaft,  and  the  latter  be  allowed  to  remain  floating  separately ; 
while  the  seal  runs  off  with  the  line  and  the  bladder.  For 
this  purpose  the  foremost  part  of  the  shaft  is  made  with  a  joint, 
which  enables  it  to  be  bent,  whereupon  the  point  and  line  will 
directly  fall  off.  The  movements  of  the  seal  in  its  struggle  will 
occasion  this.  The  same  flexibility  is  given  to  the  lance, 


by  their  Progress  in  Completing  the  Kayak  Implements.      71 

whereas,  on  the  small  harpoon,  or  "bladder-arrow,"  the  point  has 
been  destined  to  remain  fixed  immovably  to  the  shaft. 

Finally,  we  have  to  consider  that  side  by  side  with  the  im- 
provements of  the  implements  the  kayak  itself  is  rendered  more 
suitable  for  its  purpose  by  the  necessary  adjustment  of  its  form 
and  size.  A  peculiar  construction,  and  especially  a  certain 
degree  of  narrowness  of  the  kayak,  was  still  required  in  order  to 
enable  the  kayaker  to  rise  to  the  surface  again  by  means  of  his 
paddle,  in  case  he  was  capsized.  This  art,  which  in  Greenland 
also  has  been  considered  one  of  the  indispensable  accomplish- 
ments of  a  seal  hunter,  is,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
discover,  only  exceptionally  known  in  other  Eskimo  countries. 
Moreover,  it  may  be  added  as  a  curiosity  in  the  history  of  the 
development  of  the  kayak  implements,  that  the  extreme  east 
of  Greenland  can  still  boast  of  one  or  two  small  improvements 
unknown  on  the  west  coast  of  the  same  country. 

DISCUSSION. 

Dr.  JOHN  BAE  on  being  asked  to  address  the  meeting  said,  that 
anything  either  spoken  or  written  by  Dr.  Rink,  regarding  the 
Eskimo,  must  demand  the  greatest  respect  and  attention  of  every- 
one. Especially  is  this  the  case  as  regards  the  natives  of  Greenland, 
of  whom  Dr.  Rink  knows,  from  personal  knowledge,  more  than 
any  other  man  living,  having  made  himself  as  far  as  possible, 
master  of  the  subject. 

As  regards  the  Eskimo  from  Hudson's  Bay,  westward  to 
Behring  Strait,  Dr.  Rink's  evidence  is  not  of  equally  great  value, 
depending  as  it  does  on  the  report  of  others,  and  not  on  his  own 
observation.  Dr.  Rae  entirely  agrees  with  Dr.  Rink's  remarks  on 
certain  advantages  of  the  Greenlanders'  kayak,  and  the  expert- 
ness  of  the  kayaker  himself,  over  those  of  the  natives  further 
west,  where  the  kayak  is  much  broader  in  the  after  part,  there- 
fore less  liable  to  capsize,  and  could  not  be  "righted"  by  the 
'  kayaker  as  the  man  of  Greenland  does  when  capsized.  He  had 
seen  kayaks  capsize  both  at  the  McKenzie  River  and  in  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  but  for  the  presence  of  others  the  men  would  have  been 
drowned.  Along  all  the  Arctic  coast  from  McKenzie  River  to 
Hudson's  Bay  the  double  paddle  is  used,  so  also  is  the  waterproof 
sealskin  coat,  tied  round  the  wrists,  the  face,  and  round  the  rim 
at  opening  where  the  man  sits. 

The  various  parts  of  the  kayak  as  mentioned  by  Dr.  Rink,  with 
the  exception  of  one  weapon,  were  well  illustrated  by  a  model 
of  a  Greenland  one  shown  by  Dr.  Rae. 

Dr.  Rink  said  he  had  tried  to  demonstrate  that  the  interior 
of  Alaska  was  the  probable  home  of  the  Eskimo  tribe,  and  his 
oriyinal  boat  the  birch  bark  canoe,  which,  he  still  uses  on  the 
rivers  of  Alaska,  "just  like  his  Indian  neighbours."  Dr.  Rae,  with 
much  diffidence  ventured  to  differ  entirely  trom  this  view,  and  his 


72  Discussion. 

opinions  are  on  record  in  the  journals  of  the  Ethnological  Society 
and  Anthropological  Institute ;  his  belief  being  that  the  old  home 
of  the  Eskimo  tribe  was  the  north-eastern  portion  of  Asia,  and 
that  in  their  emigration  to  America  they  came  from  the  west  and 
crossed  the  sea,  probably  at  Behring  Strait. 

Dr.  Rae  further  thought  that  the  original  boat  of  the  Eskimo  was 
made  of  skin,  and  that  when  they  went  inland  by  the  great  rivers 
of  Alaska  and  made  a  new  home  there,  they,  being  an  adaptive  and 
clever  people,  naturally  took  to  building  and  using  bark  canoes,  as 
being  more  readily  and  easily  made,  and  cheaper,  as  sealskins  could 
not  be  obtained,  except  with  difficulty.  Dr.  Rae  considered  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  a  change  from  skin  kayak  to  bark 
canoe  was  no  sign  of  degenerating,  but  rather  shewed  intelligence 
and  ingenuity. 

Mr.  H.  W.  SETON-KARR  observed  that  the  model  which  Dr.  Rae 
exhibited  was  the  true  kayak  having  only  one  hatch.  The  two 
models  which  the  speaker  exhibited  were  of  three  hatch  bidarkies, 
as  this  kind  of  canoe  is  named  in  Central  Southern  Alaska.  The 
sealskin  canoe  is  not  known  further  south  than  the  Copper  River. 
From  this  point  west  to  the  Aleutian  Islands  these  bidarkies  are 
one,  two,  and  three  hatch,  rarely  one  hatch.  Two  and  three  hatch 
bidarkies  were  formerly  confined  exclusively  to  the  Aleutian 
Islands.  North  of  Bristol  Bay  only  one  hatch  bidarkies  are  used. 
This  is  the  kayak  proper.  Mr.  Seton-Karr  exhibited  an  Eskimo 
gut  coat  which  he  always  wore  himself,  but  he  explained  that  he 
could  not  put  it  on  as  it  was  necessary  always  to  wet  these  coats 
or  kamleygas  in  order  to  soften  them  first.  He  understood  that 
this  word  was  from  a  Siberian  word,  kamlaia  meaning  "  deer-skin 
coat."  Wearing  these  coats  in  a  bidarky  or  kayak,  and  having 
them  firmly  lashed  to  the  rim  of  the  hole,  one  can  pass  through 
rough  water  and  even  breaking  surf  in  safety.  Bows  and  arrows 
are  certainly  carried  upon  the  canoe  in  Prince  William  Sound  and 
Cook's  Inlet.  He  exhibited  some  of  the  bows  and  arrows  used  for 
sea-otter  hunting.  The  barb  is  fixed  lightly  in  the  end  of  the  arrow 
and  remains  fixed  in  the  sea  otter  while  the  shaft  becomes  detached, 
and  the  gut  string  unwinds.  The  shaft  then  floats  at  right  angles 
to  the  cord,  and,  acting  as  a  drag,  soon  exhausts  the  animal.  The 
arrow  is  winged  with  eagle's  feathers,  and  the  fore  part  of  the 
shaft  is  white  bone  from  a  whale's  jaw. 

Mr.  Petroff  (who  was  a  census  agent  for  enumerating  some  of 
the  Indian  tribes  in  South  Alaska  in  1878-1880,  and  who  was 
sitting  near  Mr.  Seton-Karr  at  supper  when  the  Alaska  Company's 
agent  was  shot  at  with  slugs  from  outside  the  house  and  killed  by 
his  side  by  a  Russian  Indian)  considers  that  the  Eskimo  reacLed 
the  coast  from  the  interior. 

Sir  ERASMUS  OMMANNEY,  remarked  that  in  his  arctic  voyages  he 
had  visited  the  settlements  in  Greenland,  Okkuk  in  Labrador;  on 
his  search  after  Franklin's  expedition  he  communicated  with  the 
small  tribe  located  on  the  coast  at  the  extreme  north  of  Baffin's 


Discussion.  73 

Bay  and  the  entrance  of  Smith's  Sound,  lat.  78°  N".,  from  whom  he 
brought  to  England  he  believed  the  only  Eskimo  ever  brought  to 
this  country,  the  tribe  in  question  being  isolated  entirely  from  the 
habitable  world,  e^en  from  the  Eskimo  in  southern  Greenland, 
from  whom  they  were  separated  by  hundreds  of  miles  of  glacier. 
This  singular  tribe  were  first  discovered  by  Captain  John  Boss  in 
1818;  until  then  they  believed  themselves  to  be  the  sole  possessors 
of  the  earth ;  on  beholding  Ross's  ship  they  were  amazed '  and 
terrified  with  fright,  wondering  with  awe  what  the  apparition  of 
the  ship  would  entail  upon  them. 

It  was  at  Cape  York  that  the  speaker  fell  in  with  these  people, 
and  induced  one  of  them  to  join  the  ship,  with  a  view  to  make  him 
useful  in  his  search  for  Franklin ;  the  youth  was  about  eighteen 
years  old ;  he  came  aboard  with  three  companions.  On  being  taken 
into  the  engine  room  the  furnaces  astonished  them,  but  when  the 
engine  was  started  they  bolted  on  deck  with  fright.  Being  anxious 
to  proceed,  as  he  had  a  wish  to  bid  farewell  to  his  friends,  he  went 
on  to  the  Wolstenholme  Sound  where  he  ascertained  that  H.M.S. 
"  North  Star "  had  wintered  there.  The  Eskimo  was  named 
Erasmus  York;  he  conducted  the  speaker  to  the  winter  quarters  of 
his  tribe,  which  consisted  of  several  huts  built  with  stones  into  a 
dome  shape.  Several  dead  natives  were  found  in  their  huts  lying  in 
their  clothing  of  sealskin,  and  there  was  a  place  of  sepulture  for  the 
dead.  A  spear  was  removed  from  a  grave  by  one  of  the  officers, 
which  called  forth  tears  and  entreaties  from  the  natives,  as  they 
hold  a  superstition  that  the  spear  is  required  after  death  for  hunting 
in  another  world. 

As  regards  the  origin  of  these  people,  this  native  gave  evidence 
of  Asiatic  descent:  in  form  and  features  he  was  of  Mongolian  type, 
the  eyes  being  placed  in  an  angular  line  as  in  the  Chinese,  wide 
apart,  high  cheek  bones,  flattish  nose,  sallow  complexion,  straight 
black  hair,  wide  across  the  forehead,  about  five  feet  four  inches 
in  height.  From  the  traces  of  their  settlements  along  the  south 
shores  of  the  Parry  Islands,  it  must  be  concluded  that  these 
people  had  in  former  times  gradually  migrated  from  Behring's 
Straits. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  habits,  dress,  and  implements  corres- 
pond with  those  of  the  Eskimo  on  the  continent,  Labrador,  and 
South  Greenland. 

He  passed  the  winter  with  the  party  after  Sir  Erasmus  Omman- 
ney  had  discovered  the  first  traces  ever  found  of  Franklin's  ships  ; 
the  party  was  frozen  up  for  eleven  months,  and  during  that  time 
he  became  accustomed  to  our  habits  and  learnt  to  read  and  write. 
On  the  speaker's  return  to  England  he  was  sent  to  the  Missionary 
College  of  St.  Augustine's  College,  Canterbury,  for  three  years  ; 
the  mind  did  not  expand  beyond  the  rudiments  of  the  three  B's. 
He  was  docile,  amiable,  taciturn,  had  naturally  good  manners,  and 
was  devoid  of  excitement.  He  showed  a  taste  for  drawing ;  and 
delineated  a  good  map  of  the  country  and  coast  of  his  native  land. 
The  animals  on  which  these  people  subsisted  were  seals,  walrus, 


74  Discussion. 

deer,  and  birds.     They  did  not  possess  the  kayak,  or  canoe,  in  use 
by  the  other  Eskimo. 

Sir  LEOPOLD  McCLiNTOCK  desired  to  express  his  admiration  of 
the  genius  and  the  enthusiastic  perseverance  of  the  author  of  the 
paper,  Dr.  Bink,  through  whose  labours  our  knowledge  of  the 
habits  and  traditions  of  the  Greenland  Eskimo  has  been  so  greatly 
increased. 

He  exhibited  to  the  meeting  some  interesting  woodcuts,  being 
the  work  of  these  people  in  Greenland,  illustrating  their  mode  of 
life,  their  traditions,  including  their  conflicts  with  the  Scandinavians 
and  their  weapons.  Dr.  Rink,  who  had  fostered  these  efforts  at 
producing  woodcuts,  very  justly  appealed  to  them  as  evidence  of 
the  capacity  of  the  Greenlanders  for  improvement  and  elevation. 

Sir  Leopold  also  exhibited  a  toy  sledge,  from  the  Eskimo 
living  under  the  78th  parallel — and  therefore  nearer  to  the  North 
Pole  than  any  other  people.  It  was  composed,  like  their  large 
sledges,  of  pieces  of  drift  wood,  bones,  and  walrus  ivory,  ingeniously 
bound  together  with  strings  of  seal  skin.  He  remarked  that  here 
in  the  north-west  corner  of  Greenland,  the  further  migration  of 
the  Eskimo  was  checked  by  impassible  limits  of  ice  and  snow, 
and  in  this  desperately  severe  climate,  their  privations  were  so 
great  that  their  lives  were  spent  in  a  constant  struggle  for  sub- 
sistence ;  they  were  unable  to  supply  themselves  with  kayaks,  or 
bows  and  arrows.  They  were  but  few  in  number  and  they  were 
decreasing  yearly.  In  reply  to  the  President  he  said  he  saw  no 
greater  difference  between  this  remote  tribe  and  other  Eskimo 
further  south  along  the  shores  of  Baffin's  Bay  than  was  due  to  the 
greater  severity  of  their  climate  and  the  greater  privations  they 
were  subjected  to. 

Miss  BUCKLAND  requested  some  of  the  Arctic  explorers  to  inform 
her  whether  bows  made  of  bone  were  used  by  the  Eskimo,  as 
there  were  two  in  the  Bath  Museum  among  relics  brought  over 
by  Ross  or  Parry,  which  she  understood  had  been  taken  from 
Eskimo  graves,  and  as  one  was  broken,  she  wished  to  know  whether 
it  is  the  custom  of  these  people  to  break  weapons  and  other  imple- 
ments buried  with  the  dead  as  is  done  by  some  races  either  with 
the  idea  of  sending  the  spirit  of  the  implement  to  join  the  spirit 
of  the  man,  or  with,  the  more  utilitarian  idea  of  preventing  its 
being  abstracted  and  used  by  the  living. 


Professor  FLOWER  read  extracts  from  two  letters  addressed  to 
him  by  Mr.  COUTTS  TROTTER,  dated  from  s.s.  "  Llibeck,"  between 
Samoa  and  Sydney,  December  19th  and  22nd,  1886. 


C.  TitOTTEK. — Natives  of  the  Polynesian  Islands.  75 

NOTES  on  the  NATIVES  of  the  POLYNESIAN  ISLANDS. 
By  COUTTS  TROTTER,  Esq. 

RECOLLECTING  the  interest  you  have  taken  in  the  natives  of  these 
islands,  and  the  study  you  have  given  to  them,  I  cannot  resist 
giving  you  one  or  two  general  impressions  that  struck  me,  not 
that  they  can  be  of  the  smallest  value.  I  need  hardly  say  how 
often  I  wished  for  your  presence  while  puzzling  over  the 
different  types  of  face  that  one  sees.  One  curious  thing  is  the 
way  they  all  resolve  themselves  into  a  few  groups,  within  each 
of  which  all  the  individuals  are  so  closely  alike,  that  it  is  all 
but  impossible  to  distinguish  them,  so  that  you  are  constantly 
reduced  to  the  alternative  either  of  cutting  your  acquaintance 
or  of  saluting  a  stranger,  and  in  these  sociable  regions  the  latter 
plan  is  much  the  less  likely  to  give  offence.  This  appearance 
of  running  into  groups  may  be  merely  the  way  one's  eye 
behaves  among  new  surroundings,  but  I  think  the  small 
numbers  and  isolation  of  the  people,  their  tribal  systems,  and 
some  of  their  customs,  e.g.,  the  practice,  for  political  or  social 
reasons,  of  keeping  up  certain  large  circles  of  connection  or 
cousinship,  may  have  something  to  do  with  it.  Then,  besides 
the  varieties  in  each  island,  you  have  the  effects  of  intercourse 
between  the  groups.  In  the  east  of  Fiji  the  Tongans  have 
more  than  half  swamped  the  Fijians,  and  one  traces  Fijian 
blood  in  Tonga,  and  also  even  in  Samoa.  In  fact  one  of  the 
characteristic  Samoan  types — a  broad,  rounded,  good  humoured 
face,  with  eyes  slightly  smaller  than  average,  and  in  the  women 
always  ready  to  dimple  into  smiles — always  seemed  to  me  to 
have  something  Fijian  in  it,  though  after  all,  this  is  perhaps 
only  an  element  common  to  the  three  groups,  for  this  pleasant 
rounded  female  face,  which  at  last  you  begin  to  think  quite 
pretty,  has  a  sort  of  counterpart,  with  a  difference,  in  Tonga, 
where  perhaps  it  is  rather  prettier.  Another  different,  and 
equally  characteristic,  type  of  Samoan  man  has  peculiarly  clean 
straight  cut  eyes  and  brows,  giving  a  rather  cold,  hard,  distingut 
expression.  By  the  way,  are  all  these  people  mesorrhine  ?  My 
eyes  may  have  deceived  me,  or  become  used  to  the  type,  but  I 
should  say  many  of  the  faces  one  sees  have  the  lower  part  of  the 
nose  no  wider  than  a  European. 

Of  course  you  meet  plenty  of  rnen  and  women  without  either 
fine  figures  or  handsome  faces,  but  a  large  proportion  have  fine 
figures  and  carry  themselves  well,  and  there  is  a  smaller  but 
relatively  considerable  number  of  men  perfectly  magnificent  in 
size  and  proportion  from  head  to  foot,  never  falling  away  below 
the  knee  like  some  of  the  otherwise  fine  Indian  races,  and  many 


76  C.  THOTTEE.—  On  the  Natives  of 

of  the  young  women  have  perfect  busts  and  figures  that  seem  to 
tread  on  air. 

The  women  carry  themselves  even  better  than  the  men, 
who  often  slouch  a  little,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  old 
women  do  not  become  hags,  but  the  figure  remains  perfectly 
slim  and  upright,  and  very  elegant.  The  way  they  are  trained 
to  wralk  has  something  to  do  with  this,  the  shoulders  square,  and 
the  head  thrown  back,  the  arms  at  every  step  (this  especially  in 
Tonga)  swung  well  behind  them.  But  in  Tonga  the  beauty  of 
the  human  figure  is  seen  no  more,  for  the  ex-reverend  Premier, 
whether  for  moral  or  financial  reasons  I  leave  you  to  judge,  has 
decreed  and  strictly  enforces  a  heavy  fine  on  every  man  who  is 
seen,  even  inside  his  fence,  without  a  shirt,  and  on  any  woman 
not  muffled  in  a  pinafore.  The  rule  does  not  anyhow  tend  to 
cleanliness,  and  it  also  makes  it  less  easy  than  formerly  to  com- 
pare the  colour  of  Samoans  and  Tongans.  To  my  eye  there  is 
distinctly  a  shade  more  of  yellow  in  the  former,  a  slight  excess 
of  copper,  in  short,  in  the  Samoan  bronze.  The  upper  class  is 
by  no  means  fairer  than  the  lower  (probably  the  two  are  much 
mixed),  anyhow  I  saw  conspicuous  examples  of  the  contrary. 
The  Tongan  royal  family,  for  instance,  the  Tubo,  is  exceptionally 
dark,  as  is  the  family  of  Thakombau  in  Fiji  (I  forget  in  which 
of  the  Polynesian  groups  they  have  a  saying  to  the  effect 
that  the  chief  is  dark  and  the  common  man  fair). 

Of  Fiji  I  saw  very  little  beyond  parts  of  Viti  Levu,  but 
there  too,  mingling  with  the  usual  broad-faced,  dark  brown 
type,  I  constantly  detected  another,  with  an  elliptical-shaped 
face,  high  and  narrow  forehead,  projecting  brows,  skin  rather 
black  than  brown,  altogether  a  more  negroid  look,  but  this  type 
again,  or  modifications  of  it,  is  not  confined  to  the  Kai-si 
(common  people).  By  the  way — language  apart — wherever  we 
may  be  pleased  to  class  the  typical  Fijian,  he  is  to  the 
ordinary  observer  distinctly  much  nearer  to  the  Samoan  and 
Tongan  than  he  is  to  the  Solomon  or  New  Hebrides  man, 
and  he  is  a  far  finer  looking  fellow  than  these  Melanesians. 
I  have  not  seen  many  New  Hebrides  people,  but  I  have  seen 
numbers  of  the  Solomons,  and  was  much  struck  by  their 
diminutive  size  ;  very  small  heads,  but  clean,  lithe,  active  little 
fellows.  But  as  regards  the  Fijian  you  cannot  help  feeling 
that  however  "  interesting,"  he  has  not  the  mental  capacity  of 
either  Tongan  or  Samoan,  though  (as  has  been  noticed  before), 
his  artistic  powers  seem  greater  or  more  developed.  But  what 
struck  me  as  especially  curious  was  the  occurrence  both  in 
Samoa  and  Tonga,  but  especially  in  the  latter,  of  very  marked 
"  Mongolian "  or  Japanese  features.  I  recall  particularly  a 
granddaughter  of  the  King  of  Tonga,  with  a  small  slight  figure. 


the  Polynesian  Islands.  77 

dark,  but  sallow,  small  features,  distinctly  oblique  eyes,  and  long, 
black  hair,  drawn  up  off  the  forehead  into  a  top  knot,  who 
might  have  walked  off'  a  Japanese  fan  or  plate.  I  suppose  these 
are  only  the  result  of  accidental  importation  ?  In  the  Tokelaus 
(Ellice  group)  many  of  whom  one  meets  as  imported  labour,  the 
Mongoloid  look  is  also  very  strong.  Several  of  their  women  I 
saw,  if  appropriately  dressed,  would  be  undistinguishable  from 
North  American  squaws. 

]  regret  —  among  many  regrets  —  that  I  could  not  go  to 
Rotumah.  The  Rotuuiah  boys,  whom  one  constantly  meets  as 
sailors,  are  the  handsomest  Pacific  islanders  I  have  seen  ;  but  in 
an  island  of  this  size,  which  has  been  frequented  by  whalers  for 
generations  past,  there  must  be  a  large  infusion  of  European 
blood,  a  circumstance  which,  I  take  it,  modifies  the  type  in 
many  of  the  groups  to  a  greater  extent  than  is  commonly  allowed 
for.  I  am  ashamed  at  having  gone  on  gossipping  to  this  length, 
and  will  say  nothing  about  the  charming  manners  and  refined 
nature  of  the  people — for  everyone  has  noticed  this.  Such  a 
contrast  in  real  innate  politeness  to  the  Arabs  for  instance, 
who  are  supposed  to  be  a  polite  people,  and  their  houses  so 
infinitely  cleaner  and  pleasanter.  Perhaps  after  all,  their  cricket 
and  their  music  are  the  most  wonderful  things  about  them, 
showing  their  extraordinary  powers  of  adaptation — you  see  these 
men,  naked  from  the  waist  upwards,  and  bare  legged,  standing 
up  to  swift  bowling,  fielding  splendidly,  wicket  keeping,  going 
"  over,"  just  like  so  many  born  Britishers ;  and  the  way  they  have 
taken  up  European  music,  when  well  taught,  as  by  Mr.  Moulton 
in  Tonga,  is  equally  remarkable,  especially  when  one  remembers 
how  essentially  different  it  is  from  their  own.  I  enjoyed  their 
own  proper  music,  and  it  grows  strongly  on  you.  There  is  a 
great  deal  of  melody,  the  most  perfect  and  intricate  time,  and 
distinct  harmony,  but  there  is  something  essentially  different 
from  our  music,  and  often  I  heard  songs  which  I  do  not  think 
could  be  rendered  by  our  system  of  notation. 

Once  more  excuse  the  length  to  which  I  have  run  on.  I  wish 
I  could  have  sent  you  anything  of  real  value,  but  to  have  done 
this  would  require,  besides  the  previous  training  and  technical 
knowledge  which  I  do  not  possess,  a  far  longer  residence  in  the 
islands,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  language. 

I  have  heard  two  or  three  times  of  stone  implements  being 
dug  up  at  considerable  depths  in  the  Fiji  Islands,  and  in  one 
case  the  implements  were  quarried  out  of  a  reef,  which  argues 
long  habitation.  I  enclose  a  sketch  of  a  celt,  dug  up  some  two 
feet  deep  in  the  Rewa  River,  and  another  of  a  curious  sort  of 
gouge.  1  believe  these  last  have  been  found  elsewhere,  but  I 
have  not  heard  of  them  in  Fiji.  The  material  of  the  gouge 


78  C.  TROTTER. — Natives  of  the  Polynesian  Islands. 

appeared  to  be  a  fine  grained  basalt.  Dr.  Macgregor,  to  whom 
they  belong,  showed  me  a  large  and  very  thick,  heavy  celt,  also 
of  basalt,  and  much  worn,  which  was  found  at  nine  or  ten  feet 
depth  in  alluvium. 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MISCELLANEA. 


LECTURES  ON  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

A  course  of  three  lectures  on  "  Heredity  and  Nurture  "  will,  with 
the  permission  of  the  Lords  of  the  Committee  of  Council  on 
Education,  be  given  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  on  behalf 
of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  by  Mr.  Francis  Galton,  F.R.S., 
President  of  the  Institute. 

The  Lectures  will  take  place  on  Saturday  afternoons,  November 
12,  19,  and  26,  at  4.30  p.m.: — Lecture  1.  November  12th. 
Observed  diversity  in  the  bodily  and  mental  characteristics  of 
individuals.  Anthropometric  tests,  and  records  of  life-histories. 
Lecture  2.  November  19th.  Limits  to  the  inheritance  of  ancestral 
peculiarities,  and  to  the  hereditary  transmission  of  disease. 
Individual  variation.  Lecture  3.  November  26th.  Influences  of 
various  kinds  of  nurture,  training,  and  occupation  on  the  average 
vigour,  longevity,  and  disposition,  of  large  classes  of  persons. 
Recapitulation  and  suggestions. 

Demonstrations  of  anthropometric  methods  will  be  given  at  the 
close  of  each  lecture,  so  far  as  time  permits. 

Students  in  Training,  National  Scholars,  and  registered  Students 
of  the  Department  of  Science  and  Art  will  be  admitted  free.  The 
Public  will  be  admitted  on  payment  of  a  registration  fee  of  Is.  for 
the  course. 

BRITISH  ASSOCIATION  MEETING. 

The  fifty-seventh  Meeting  of  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  will  be  held  at  Manchester  under  the 
Presidency  of  Sir  Henry  Roscoe,  M  P.,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S., 
commencing  on  Wednesday,  August  31st.  Section  H,  devoted  to 
Anthropology,  will  be  presided  over  by  the  Rev.  Professor  A.  H. 
Sayce,  M.A.  Papers  to  be  read  at  this  meeting  should  be  sent  as 
early  as  possible,  with  Abstracts,  to  the  offices  of  the  Association 
22,  Albemarle-street,  or  to  Mr.  G.  W.  Bloxam,  Recorder  of  Section 
H,  at  the  rooms  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  3,  Hanover-square, 
W.  It  is  proposed  to  form  a  museum  of  objects  of  anthropological 
interest  to  be  open  during  the  week  of  meeting.  Persons  desirous 
of  contributing  to  this  museum  should  give  due  notice  to  the 
Recorder. 


80  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

ARCHJ:OLOGICAL  MEETING. 

The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Royal  Archaeological  Institute  of 
Great  Britain  will  be  held  ut  Salisbury,  under  the  Presidency 
of  Lieutenant-General  Pitt-Rivers,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  com- 
mencing on  Tuesday,  August  2nd,  when  the  President  will  deliver 
the  inaugural  address. 

The  Romano-British  villages,  described  by  General  Pitt-Rivers 
at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Anthropological  Institute  will  be 
visited  on  August  9th. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Salisbury  meeting  a  party  will  proceed 
to  Brittany  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  prehistoric  monuments 
and  other  objects  of  archaeological  interest.  It  is  proposed  to  visit 
Cherbourg,  Contances,  Mt.  St.  Michel,  Rennes,  Vannes,  Carnac, 
Quimper,  &c. 


CHINESE  SUPERSTITION. 

"  On  rapporte  d'apres  des  temoignages  serieux  que  lea  pirates 
chinois  qui  ont  assassine  recemment  M.  Haitce,  membre  de  la 
mission  de  delimitation  du  Tonkin,  a  Monkay,  ont  mange  son  coeur 
et  son  foie  et  bu  son  fiel  delaye  dans  de  l'eau-de-vie  de  riz.  Us 
croyaient  faire  passer  ainsi  le  courage  du  jeune  Francais  dans  leur 
corps.  Ce  fait  indique  une  superstition  que  Ton  retrouve  dans 
presque  toutes  les  religions." — From  the  "  Materiaux  pour  1'histoire 
naturelle  et  primitive  de  l'homme,"  July,  1887,  p.  300. 


Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst.,  Vol.  XVII,  PI.  IV. 


SPINNING  TOPS.     See  page  89. 


THE    JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL    INSTITUTE 


GEEAT  BRITAIN  AND   IRELAND. 


APRIL  26TH,  1887. 

FRANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 

The  election  of  G.  B.  HOWES,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  F.Z.S,  Assistant 
Professor  of  Biology  at  the  Normal  School  of  Science,  South 
Kensington,  was  announced. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors  : — 

FOB  THE  LIBRARY. 

From  the  Rev.  G.  BROWN. — A  Comparison  of  the  Dialects  of  East 
and  West  Polynesian,  Malay,  Malagasy,  and  Australian.  By 
the  Rev.  George  Pratt. 

From  the  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. — Geological  History 
of  Lake  Lahontan.  By  Israel  Cook  Russell. 

From  the  YORKSHIRE  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY. — Annual  Report  for 
1886. 

From  the  SCOTTISH  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY. — The  Scottish  Geo- 
graphical Magazine.  Vol.  iii,  Nos.  1-4. 

From  the  DEUTSCHE  GESELLSCHAFT  FUR  ANTHROPOLOGIE,  ETHNOLOGIE, 
UND  URGESCHICHTE. — Correspondenz-Blatt.  1887.  Nos.  2,  3. 

VOL.  XVII.  G 


82  List  of  Presents. 

From  the  BERLIN  GESELLSCHAFT  FUR  ANTHROPOLOGIE,  ETHNOLOGIE, 
UNO  URGESCHICHTE. — Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologie.  1886.  Heft  2. 

From  the  AUTHOR. — A  Few  Additional  Notes  Concerning  Indian 
Games.  By  Andrew  McFarland  Davis. 

L'Anthropologie  et  la  Science  Politique.    By  M.  G.  de  Laponge. 

La  Race  Humaine  de  Neanderthal  ou  de  Canstadt  en  Belgique. 

By  Julien  Fraipont  and  Maximin  Lohest. 

Studi  sul  Darwinismo,     By  Francesco  de  Sarlo. 

— •  I  Sogni.     Saegio  psicologico.     By  F.  de  Sarlo. 

Das  Grabfeld  von  Elisried  und  die  Beziehungen  der  Ethno- 
logie zu  den  Besultaten  der  Anthropologio.  By  J.  Kollmann. 

•  Un  Caballito  Peruviano.     By  Dr.  Paolo  Riccardi. 

—  Circonferenza  Toracica  e  Statura  studiate  a  seconda  de  1'eta 
e  del  sesso  in  una  serie  di  Bolognesi.     By  Dr.  Paolo  Riccardi. 

Intorno  a  la  Oscillazioni  giornaliere  de  la  Statura  ne  I'uomo 

sano.     By  Dr.  Paolo  Riccardi. 
• •  Studio  sopra  una  serie  di  crani  di  Fuegini.      By  P.  Mante- 

gazza  and  E.  Regalia. 
•  Antropologia  dell'Italia  nell'evo  antico  e  nel  moderno.     By 

Giustiuiano  Nicolucci. 
From  the   BATAVIAASCH   GENOOTSCHAP  VAN   KUNSTEN   EN   WETEN- 

SCHAPPEN. — Notulen.     Deel  xxiv.     Afl.  4. 

Catalogus  der  Archeologische  Yerzameling. 

From  the  KONINKLIJKE  AKADEMIE  VAN  WETBNSCHAPPEN,  AMSTERDAM. 

— Jaarbock.     1885. 
•  Yerslagen  en  Mededeelingen.   Afdeeling  Natuurkunde.    Derde 

Reeks. — Deel  ii. 
From  the  AKADEMIJA   UMIEJETNOSCI  w  KRAKOWIE.  —  Zbidr  wiado- 

mosci  do  Antropologii  Krajowej.     Tom.  x. 

Rozprawy  i  Sprawozdania  z  Posiedzen.     Tom.  xiii,  xiv. 

Pamietmk.     Tom.  xii. 

From  the  MAGYAR  TUI>OMANYOS  ARABS'  MIA.— Almanach  1886. 

-  Nyelvtudomanyi  ertekezesek,  xii,  6-12  ;  xiii,  1,  2,  5. 
Nyelvtudomanyi  Kozlemenyek,  xix,  2,  3. 

Nyelvemlektar,  xiii. 

Tortenettudomanyi  Ertekezesek,  xii,  3.  5-10 ;  xiii,  1,  3. 

Tarsadalmi  Ertekezesek,  vii,  10 ;  viii,  1,  6. 

—  Danko  Jozsef.     A  franczia  konyvdisz. 

Fejerpataky    Laszlo.       A    kiralyi    cancellaria    az     Arpadok 

koraban. 
Dr.  Wlassies  Gyula.     A  biinkiserlet  es  bevegzett  biineselek- 

meny. 

-  Ungarische  Revue.     1885,  8-10  ;  1886,  1-10. 
Bulletin,     iv,  v. 

Naturwissenschaftliche  Berichte.     iii. 

From  the  IMPERIAL  UNIVERSITY,  JAPAN. — Journal  of  the  College  of 
Science.  Vol.  i,  parts  1,  2. 

Memoirs  of  the  Literature  College.     No.  1. 

From  the  ASSOCIATION. — Proceedings  of  the  Geologists'  Associa- 
tion. Vol.  x.  No.  1. 


E.  CUNNINGHAM. — Exhibition  of  Natives  of  Queensland.     83 

From  the  ASSOCIATION. — Journal  of  the  East  India  Association. 

Vol.  xix.     No.  4. 

Journal  of  the  Royal  Historical  and  Archaeological  Associa- 
tion of  Ireland.     Fourth  series.     Nos.  68,  69. 
From  the  INSTITUTE. — Proceedings    of    the    Canadian   Institute. 

No.  147. 
From  the  SOCIETY. — Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.    Nos.  1792- 

1796. 

Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society.     No.  252. 

—  Proceedings    of    the    Royal     Geographical    Society.     1887. 

No.  4. 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland.    1885- 

86. 
Bulletins   de  la   Societe   d'Anthropologie   de   Paris.      1886. 

Fas.  4. 
Bulletin  de  1'Academie  Imperiale  des  Sciences  de  St.  Peters- 

bourg.     T.  xxxi,  No.  4. 
Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Imperiale  des  Naturalistes  de  Moscou. 

1886,  No.  4  ;  1887,  Nos.  1,  2. 
Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Neuchateloise  de  Geographic.    Tom.  ii. 

Fas.  3. 

-  Boletim  da  Sociedade  de  Geographia  de  Lisboa.     Nos.  7,  8. 
From  the  LIBRARIAN. — Report  of  the  Mitchell  Library,  Glasgow, 

1886. 
From  the  EDITOR. —Nature.     Nos.  908-912. 

journal  of  Mental  Science.     Vol.  xxxiii.     No.  141. 

American  Antiquarian.     Vol.  ix.     No.  2. 

—  Science.     Nos.  215-218. 

Photographic  Times.     Nos.  286-291. 

Kosmos.     Vol.  i.     No.  2. 

Revue  d'Ethnographie.     Tom.  v.     No.  6. 

-  L'Homme.     1886,  No.  24;  1887,  Nos.  1-4. 

Bullettino  di  Paletnologia  Italiana.     Tom.  iii.     Nos.  1,  2. 


EXHIBITION  of  NATIVES  of  QUEENSLAND. 
By  Mr.  E.  A.  CUNNINGHAM. 

Mr.  CUNNINGHAM  exhibited  three  natives  of  Northern  Queens- 
land, namely  a  man  named  "  Billy,"  a  woman  "  Jenny,"  and  a 
boy  known  as  "  Little  Toby."  About  five  years  ago  he  brought 
them,  with  much  difficulty,  from  Australia,  accompanied  by 
several  other  natives,  since  dead.  They  had  been  scientifically 
examined  by  the  Anthropological  Societies  of  Berlin,  Paris, 
Brussels,  and  Eussia;  and  had  travelled  for  public  exhibition 
through  the  chief  cities  of  Australia,  the  United  States,  Canada, 

G  2 


84  Discussion. 

and  parts  of  Europe,  including  Moscow  and  Constantinople. 
Mr.  Cunningham  in  giving  a  brief  description  of  their  manners 
and  customs,  called  attention  to  the  cicatrices  on  their  bodies, 
which  were  regarded  as  ornamental,  and  resulted  from  wounds 
made  by  means  of  sharp  stones  or  fragments  of  glass  from 
broken  bottles.  In  illustration  of  the  method  of  throwing  the 
boomerang,  the  natives  experimented  with  paper  models  and 
displayed  great  skill  in  throwing  these  mimic  weapons  so  as  to 
ensure  a  return  flight  across  the  room.  They  gave  illustrations 
of  a  corroborie,  sang  several  native  songs,  and  attempted  to 
count  a  number  of  objects  laid  before  them.  Excellent  por- 
traits of  the  two  adults  are  in  the  collection  of  photographs 
presented  to  the  Institute  by  Prince  Roland  Bonaparte. 

DISCUSSION, 

The  Rev.  W.  WTATT  GILL  said  that  he  had  more  than  once 
visited  the  places  (Cardwell  and  Palm  Island  in  Northern  Queens- 
land) from  which  these  aboriginal  Australians  came.  He  described 
them  as  being  fairly  typical  specimens  of  the  race,  except  that  they 
were  of  a  much  lighter  colour — owing  to  enforced  frequent  ablu- 
tions— than  can  be  met  with  in  their  own  country.  Despite  the 
arguments  of  learned  men,  the  speaker  held  to  the  conviction,  based 
on  personal  observation,  that  the  aborigines  of  Australia,  and  of 
south-western  New  Guinea  are  substantially  one  race.  It  is  an  ascer- 
tained fact  that  the  coast  tribes  of  New  Guinea  are  immigrant;  and 
are  now  much  intermixed  through,  marriage  with  the  true  aborigines 
of  that  interesting  island.  The  similarity  of  their  customs  is  most 
striking  to  one  who  (like  himself)  had  seen  a  great  deal  of  both 
Australian  and  South- wes.'ern  New  Guinea  natives.  They,  too, 
were  nomads, — not  the  coast  tribes,  but  the  inland  aboriginal  natives 
of  south-western  New  Guinea.  This  view  is  fully  endorsed  by  the 
speaker's  friend,  the  Rev.  James  Chalmers. 

Mr,  Wyatt  Gill  proceeded  to  say  that  in  a  few  months  he  hoped 
again  to  be  in  Sydney,  and  that  there  were  several  scientific  men 
there  who  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Anthro- 
pological Institute.  They  hoped  ere  very  long  that  a  somewhat 
similar  society  of  their  own  would  be  formed.  Their  nearness  to  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific  and  New  Guinea,  besides  the  presence  of  an 
aboriginal  race,  are  highly  favourable  circumstances.  As  many  of 
these  aboriginal  races  are  fast  dying  out,  no  time  is  to  be  lost  in 
gathering  up  all  that  can  possibly  be  known  of  their  characteristics, 
habits,  thoughts,  worship,  and  language. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  author : — 


C.  H.  BEAD. — Stone  Spinning  Tops.  85 

STONE  SPINNING  TOPS  from  TORRES  STRAITS,  NEW  GUINEA. 
By  C.  H.  READ,  F.S.A. 

[WITH  PLATE  iv.] 

THE  subject  of  my  paper  this  evening  may  perhaps  be  thought 
a  somewhat  trivial  one  to  bring  before  a  learned  society,  but  I 
hope  that  it  may  be  found  not  without  some  bearing  on  more 
obviously  important  matters.  I  have,  however,  merely  put 
together  a  few  notes  upon  these  spinning  tops,  leaving  it  to 
others  to  draw  what  inference  they  might  from  the  facts  brought 
forward. 

Among  a  number  of  objects  from  New  Guinea  recently  added 
to  the  ethnographical  collections  at  the  British  Museum  are  the 
two  stone  tops  of  which  I  exhibit  this  evening  full-sized  draw- 
ings. They  are  the  first  of  their  kind  that  I  have  seen  from 
this  part  of  the  world,  and  it,  therefore,  seemed  to  me  to  be 
worth  while  to  bring  them  before  the  notice  of  the  Institute. 

The  tops  are  made  of  a  buff  grey  sandstone,  ground  into  a 
lenticular  form,  5|  and  4|  inches  in  diameter  respectively,  the 
upper  faces  being,  however,  much  less  convex  than  the  lower,  and 
the  outlines  of  both  are  fairly  circular.  In  the  central  hole  of  each 
is  fixed  a  stick  of  palm  wood,  the  larger,  11^  inches,  and  the  smaller 
8f  inches,  in  length,  about  half-an-inch  of  which  projects  on  the 
under  side,  and  the  lower  part  of  each  stick  is  painted  of  a  dull  red 
colour.  The  most  remarkable  part  of  these  objects  is,  however, 
the  design  which  each  of  them  bears  on  the  upper  face.  Upon 
the  larger  of  the  two  is  painted  in  red  ochre  a  standing  figure,  in 
profile  to  the  left,  of  a  native  with  his  two  arms  held  up  in  front 
of  him,  and  holding  some  object  from  which  proceeds  a  curved 
line,  in  appearance  like  a  jet  of  water.  The  figure  is  remarkably 
well  drawn,  and  evidently  represents  a  native  in  his  holiday 
dress.  His  head  is  decorated  with  three  plumes,  probably  of 
feathers  of  the  cassowary  or  of  the  bird  of  paradise,  and  he  has 
two  others  at  the  back  of  his  waistband,  and  behind  him  are  two 
circular  patches  of  red.  Bound  the  edge  of  the  top  is  a  line  of 
red. 

The  smaller  top  is  painted,  or  rather  stained,  with  a  figure 
in  black,  with  faint  touches  of  red  and  yellow.  The  design 
is  a  standing  figure,  full  face,  of  a  character  less  readily 
understood  than  the  other.  The  figure  wears  apparently 
trousers,  reaching  below  the  knee,  has  the  left  hand  resting 
upon  the  hip,  and  the  right  raised  and  holding  an  object,  which 
may  be  a  club,  though  it  is  not  unlike  a  bottle.  The  head  has 
apparently  been  painted  in  red,  and  is  now  but  faintly  indicated, 


86  C.  H.  BEAD. — Stone  Spinning  Tops 

having  been  very  nmch  rubbed  before  it  reached  my  hands.  A 
suspicion  has  been  borne  in  upon  my  mind  that  this  painting 
may  be  intended  to  represent  a  white  man  with  the  bottle,  which 
is  but  too  often  his  companion  when  living  among  savages.  In 
the  carvings  of  the  West  African  negroes,  the  typical  white 
man  is  constantly  figured  with  a  brandy  bottle  in  one  hand  and 
a  large  glass  in  the  other,  while  in  the  Nicobar  Islands  the 
figure  of  the  British  sailor  occurs  very  frequently  in  the  clever 
sculptures  executed  by  the  natives.  Among  all  savages,  indeed, 
who  have  any  pictorial  skill,  and  few  have  not,  the  clothed 
white  man  is  a  subject  which  the  artist  cannot  resist.  It  may, 
therefore,  well  be  that  the  figure  on  this  top  is  intended  to  be  an 
European  in  the  attitude  which  seemed  to  the  painter  most 
characteristic. 

These  specimens  were  obtained  by  the  Eev.  S.  McFarlane,  on 
Murray  Island,  in  Torres  Straits,  lat.  9°  55'  S.,  long.  144°  2'  E. 
Mr.  McFarlane  has  been  for  many  years  a  missionary  in  New 
Guinea,  and  has  visited  and  lived  among  most  of  the  tribes  of 
the  islands  of  Torres  Straits,  of  the  mainland  near  the  Baxter 
and  Fly  Eivers,  as  well  as  those  of  the  South-eastern  peninsula 
towards  China  Straits.  He  is,  therefore,  eminently  qualified  to 
speak  of  the  habits  of  the  savages  of  this  part  of  the  world.  He 
tells  me  that  these  tops  are  undoubtedly  made  and  used  by  the 
natives  of  Murray  Island,  although  tops  are  not  common  toys 
among  the  Papuans. 

As  far  as  I  can  gather  from  Mr.  McFarlane,  these  tops  are 
used  simply  as  toys,  much  as  in  our  own  country,  and  I  did  not 
understand  that  they  were  either  the  means  of  gambling,  nor 
were  they  employed  in  any  other  special  manner.  With  regard 
to  their  use  I  can,  therefore,  find  little  to  say. 

The  making  of  them,  however,  must  have  been  a  tedious 
operation,  upon  which  a  considerable  amount  of  time  was 
expended.  The  process  is  no  doubt  the  same  as  that  employed 
in  making  the  circular  stone  discs  used  by  the  Motu,  and  some 
other  tribes,  for  the  heads  of  their  clubs.  This,  according  to 
Mr.  Stone  ("A  Few  Months  in  New  Guinea,"  p.  57),  is  to  hammer 
the  stone  incessantly  with  another  and  harder  stone,  until  it  is 
brought  to  the  required  shape ;  after  which  it  is  ground  smooth, 
with  a  sharp  edge  all  round,  the  operation  taking  several  weeks. 
If  the  Murray  Islanders  possess  a  drill,  like  the  Koitapu  of 
Fairfax  Harbour,  the  piercing  of  the  central  hole  would  be  a 
work  of  no  difficulty — but  even  without  a  drill  it  would  be 
merely  a  matter  of  time  if  a  pointed  stone  or  sharp  shell  were 
used,  and  the  exact  centre  had  been  previously  found.  The 
only  really  difficult  part  of  the  work,  and  the  part  in  which 
something  more  than  mere  patience  was  needed,  is  the  grinding 


from  Torres  Straits,  New  Guinea.  87 

of  the  convex  underside.  It  is  obvious  that  if  the  disc  were 
thicker,  and  therefore  heavier,  at  one  side  than  another,  the  top 
when  spun,  would  describe  but  very  few  revolutions,  and  would 
speedily  come  to  a  standstill.  The  curves  of  these  two  speci- 
mens are,  however,  very  true,  one  of  them  being  slightly  better 
than  the  other,  so  that  when  it  is  energetically  spun,  it  revolves 
quite  evenly  in  one  spot,  a  process  known  to  school  boys  as 
"  going  to  sleep." 

I  have  called  these  objects  tops,  though,  as  they  seem  to  be 
spun  with  the  hands  only,  teetotum  would  be  a  more  accurate 
term. 

With  regard  to  the  subjects  painted  upon  them,  Mr. 
McFarlane  could  not  speak  with  certainty,  but  suggested  that 
the  figure  on  the  larger  top  represented  a  native  in  his  dancing 
dress. 

The  dances  of  the  Torres  Straits  islanders  are  practised  at 
night,  and  have  for  their  object  success  in  hunting  and  fishing. 
It  is  on  these  occasions  that  the  extraordinary  masks  of  tortoise- 
shell  are  used,  and  I  assume  that  the  form  of  the  masks  to  be 
worn  would  have  relation  to  the  particular  sport  to  be  engaged 
in,  for  example,  in  the  dance  to  ensure  success  in  fishing,  the 
mask  would  represent  a  fish,  and  so  on.  Instances  of  similar 
dances  among  savages  of  other  parts  of  the  world  will  readily 
suggest  themselves  to  many  members  present.  The  series 
of  tortoiseshell  masks  at  the  British  Museum  now  contains  a 
good  number  of  specimens,  the  greater  part  of  which  have  been 
sent  home  by  Mr.  McFarlane.  They  represent  human  heads, 
fishes,  a  pig's  head,  and  the  largest  is  an  alligator,  between  six 
and  seven  feet  long.  This  we  obtained  from  Mr.  McFarlane, 
and  he  tells  me  that  the  youth  who  made  it  actually  copied  it 
from  the  real  animal  placed  before  him,  and  thinking  a  more 
artistic  effect  would  be  obtained  by  the  alligator's  mouth  being 
open,  he  placed  a  stick  between  its  jaws  to  prop  them  apart, 
and  so  they  remain  in  the  tortoiseshell  copy.  I  think  this 
indicates  an  amount  of  artistic  feeling  unusual  among  savages, 
who  are  wont  to  be  content  with  the  conventional  styles  of  re- 
presentation handed  down  from  their  forefathers,  and  but  seldom 
refer  to  the  original  type  for  inspiration. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  subject  of  my  paper.  The  larger 
top,  I  think,  we  may  consider  shows  a  Papuan  in  gala  dress, 
and  probably  engaged  in  a  propitiatory  dance.  In  the  case  of 
the  smaller  one,  Mr.  McFarlane  could  offer  no  suggestion  as  to 
the  subject,  and  was,  on  the  whole,  inclined  to  think  with  me, 
that  it  represented  an  European,  with  his  trousers  rolled  up  and 
holding  a  bottle  in  his  hand,  in  fact,  just  as  he  would  often  be 
seen  by  the  natives.  If  this  be  so,  it  would  be  an  indication 


88  G.  H.  READ. — Stone  Spinning  Tops 

that  the  decoration  of  the  top,  and  perhaps  the  top  itself,  is  of 
no  great  age,  perhaps  ten  to  thirty  years. 

I  do  not  think  it  very  probable,  though  it  is,  of  course, 
possible,  that  the  natives  of  the  Torres  Straits  islands  invented 
spinning  tops  for  themselves.  It  is  far  more  likely  that  they 
received  the  idea  from  a  more  cultured  and  ingenious  race  ;  for, 
apart  from  the  rarity  of  the  occurrence  of  this  toy  among  savage 
tribes,  it  is  evident  that  the  notion  of  a  spinning  top,  a  very  com- 
plex toy,  would  be  little  likely  to  spring  ready  made  into  the 
mind  of  a  people  of  the  mental  calibre  of  the  Papuan.  We  must, 
therefore,  look  elsewhere  than  among  the  races  of  New  Guinea 
for  the  origin  of  the  toy,  and  it  is,  of  course,  towards  the  neigh- 
bouring Asiatic  Archipelago,  to  the  west  and  north,  that  our  first 
glance  would  be  directed.  On  the  south  is  Australia,  the  nearest 
point  of  which  (80  miles  distant)  is  inhabited  by  tribes  far 
inferior  in  physique,  and  of  more  limited  resources  than  the 
Torres  Straits  islanders  themselves;  to  the  east  is  the  Pacific, 
where  live  races  but  little  more  cultivated  than  the  Papuan,  and 
very  little,  if  at  all,  more  inventive. 

Among  the  Asiatic  islands,  however,  I  have  not  been  so 
successful  as  I  anticipated  in  finding  spinning  tops  greatly  used. 
In  one  of  the  drawings,  I  show  a  full-sized  figure  of  a  spinning 
top  from  Timorlaut,  one  of  the  Tenimber  Islands,  whence  it  was 
brought  by  Mr.  H.  0.  Forbes,  now  in  New  Guinea,  This 
specimen  is  neither  of  the  same  form  nor  material  as  those  from 
New  Guinea,  but  the  mere  fact  of  a  top  on  the  same  principle 
being  used  by  a  tribe  so  comparatively  near  is,  I  think,  worthy 
of  note.  As  showing  the  close  connection  between  distant  parts 
of  the  archipelago,  I  would  mention  the  great  likeness  between 
the  drums  used  in  these  Tenimber  Islands,  Dutch  New  Guinea, 
and  the  Philippines  (Luzon).  The  habit  of  chewing  the  betel 
nut,  also  practised  by  many  of  the  tribes  of  the  Papuan  Gulf, 
even  down  to  the  extreme  south-east,  came  of  course  from  the 
Asiatic  islands,  and  no  doubt  tobacco  smoking  was  introduced 
from  the  same  source.  These  facts  form  at  all  events,  prima 
facie  evidence  of  the  Asiatic  origin  of  top  spinning  among  the 
Papuans. 

In  illustration  of  the  Torres  Straits  tops,  I  exhibit  full  sized 
drawings  of  four  other  tops.  One  from  the  Straits  Settlements, 
is  a  humming  top,  made  of  a  section  of  bamboo,  with  an  oblong 
opening  in  the  side ;  the  second  is  of  precisely  the  same  form, 
and  is  stated  to  come  from  the  Stewart  Group  (Sakayana),  lying 
a  little  to  the  east  of  the  Solomon  Islands.  I  must  confess, 
however,  to  having  some  doubts  about  the  correctness  of  this 
locality,  though  the  specimen  came  from  the  Godeffroy  Col- 
lection, where  they  have  the  best  means  of  testing  its  accuracy. 


from  Torres  Straits,  New  Guinea.  89 

The  third  is  a  Malay  top  (gasing)  made  on  the  lathe,  and  fur- 
nished with  an  iron  peg  at  the  base.  It  differs  from  the 
European  top  in  having  the  string  wound  round  the  upper  part. 
The  fourth  is  the  top  from  Timorlaut  before  mentioned. 
This  is  cut  by  hand,  and  is  oviform  in  shape.  The  long  peg  on 
the  upper  part  is  used  to  wind  the  thick  twisted  cord,  which  is 
made  of  a  piece  of  Manchester  print. 

I  might,  with  perhaps  some  advantage,  have  brought  forward 
objects  similar  to  these  from  parts  of  the  East  more  distant  from 
New  Guinea,  from  India,  China,  and  Japan.  And,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  modern  Japanese  top  resembles  these  in  question 
more  nearly  than  any  other  that  I  am  acquainted  with.  But  at 
this  time  my  object  is  simply  to  bring  these  curious  toys  under 
the  notice  of  the  Institute,  and  it  was,  therefore,  unnecessary  to 
go  very  far  afield  for  analogous  instances. 

NOTE. — All  the  specimens,  of  which  drawings  were  exhibited  at  the  meeting, 
are  in  the  British  Museum. 


Description  of  Plate  IV. 

Fig.  1.  Teetotum  or  top.  It  consists  of  a  lenticular  disc  of 
greyish  buff  stone ;  the  upper  face  is  flatter  than  the 
lower,  and  ornamented  (see  p.  85.)  Length  of  stick, 
8*6  in  ;  diameter  of  disc,  4'25  in. ;  thickness,  1-.3  in. 
Brought  from  Murray  Island,  Torres  Straits,  by  the  Eev. 
S.  McFarlane. — British  Museum  (Christy  Collection). 

Fig.  2.  Teetotum  or  top,  of  similar  construction  and  material. 
The  design  on  the  upper  face  is  in  this  case  entirely  in 
red  ochre,  and  represents  a  standing  figure  of  a  native, 
in  profile,  to  the  left ;  behind  him  are  two  circular  spots 
of  red.  His  hands  are  raised  in  front  of  the  face,  and 
hold  some  object  from  which  proceeds  a  curved  line,  like 
a  jet  of  water.  On  the  head  of  the  figure  are  three 
plumes,  curving  backwards,  and  at  the  back  of  his  waist- 
band are  two  others.  Round  the  edge  of  the  top  is  a 
line  of-  red.  Length  of  stick,  11*5  in. ;  diameter  of  disc, 
59  in. ;  thickness,  1'6  in.  From  Murray  Island  (Eev. 
S.  McFarlane). — British  Museum  (Christy  Collection). 

Fig.  3.  Spinning  top  of  white  wood,  with  stout  peg  at  the  top  ; 
the  body  oviform.  The  whole  cut  with  a  knife,  not  made 
on  the  lathe.  The  string  formed  of  a  twisted  piece  of 
Manchester  print.  Height  4  in.  Brought  from  Ritabel 
village,  Timorlaut,  Tenimber  Islands,  by  Mr.  H.  0.  Forbes. 
— British  Museum  (Christy  Collection}. 


90  LIEUT.  F.  ELTON. — Notes  on  Natives 

Fig.  4  Teetotum  or  top.  The  body  is  formed  of  a  section  of 
cane  2"2  inches  long,  and  1*8  in.  in  diameter,  having  in 
the  side  an  oblong  opening  cut  through  diagonally.  The 
ends  are  closed  with  wooden  plugs,  and  through  the  centre 
passes  a  stick  7 '8  in.  in  length.  From  the  Straits  Settle- 
ments. Presented  by  the  Commissioners  for  the  Straits 
Settlements  at  the  Colonial  and  Indian  Exhibition,  1886. 
— British  Museum. 

Fig.  5.  Teetotum  or  top,  of  similar  construction  and  material 
to  the  last,  with  the  exception  that  at  the  side  the 
opening  is  small  and  roughly  circular.  Eound  the  upper 
part  of  the  stick  is  wound  a  slightly  twisted  cord. 
Length  of  stick,  8  in. ;  length  of  body,  3  in. ;  diameter, 
2 '2  in.  Stated  to  have  come  from  the  Stewart  Islands 
(Sakayana),  Western  Pacific.  From  the  Godeffroy  Collec- 
tion, Hamburg.  Presented  by  A.  W.  Franks,  Esq.,  F.RS. 
— British  Museum  (Christy  Collection}. 

Fig.  6.  Malay  top  (gasing)  made  of  iron-wood  (?),  oviform  in 
shape ;  turned  on  the  lathe  and  having  a  small  iron 
point.  At  the  top  is  a  projecting  piece,  below  which  the 
string  is  wound.  Height,  3'6  in.  From  Selangor,  Straits 
Settlements.  Presented  by  the  Commissioners  for  the 
Straits  Settlements  at  the  Colonial  and  Indian  Exhibi- 
tion, 1886. — British  Museum. 


The  following  Notes  were  presented  by  Lieut.  Elton  : — 

NOTES  on  NATIVES  of  the  SOLOMON  ISLANDS. 
By  Lieutenant  F.  ELTON,  K.N. 

Introductory  Remarks. 

WHILE  serving  as  a  Lieutenant  in  H.M.S.  "  Diamond,"  on  the 
Australian  station,  the  idea  occurred  to  me  to  get  a  little  an- 
thropological information  about  the  natives  in  those  islands  of 
the  south-western  Pacific  which  contain  cannibal  inhabitants, 
and  amongst  which  the  ships  of  the  English  fleet  in  those  parts 
spend  most  of  their  time. 

It  is  usual  to  find  in  these  island  groups  some  solitary  white 
man  who  spends  his  life  among  the  natives,  living  in  some 
respects  as  they  do ;  drawing  the  line  at  cannibal  practices,  but 
taking  more  kindly  to  native  ideas  of  domestic  economy  as  to 
the  necessary  members  of  a  principal  man's  household.  Some- 


of  the,  Solomon  Islands.  91 

times  these  white  men  have  no  particular  occupation  or  object 
in  view,  but  more  commonly  they  act  as  collectors  of  "  copra  " 
for  some  Queensland  or  other  Australian  firm,  who  send  a 
schooner  round  at  intervals  of  a  few  months  to  pick  up  the 
stuff  for  sale  in  Australia. 

"  Copra  "  is  the  name  that  has  been  given  (I  think  by  some  of 
the  natives)  to  the  insides  of  cocoa-nuts.  Vast  forests  of  cocoa- 
nut  trees  fringe  the  coasts  of  the  islands,  and  the  natives,  for  a 
consideration,  collect  the  nuts,  break  off  the  shell,  and,  cutting 
the  inside  into  two  or  three  pieces,  pile  up  great  quantities  near 
the  beach  in  the  white  man's  grounds.  Payment  is  made  chiefly 
in  tobacco  and  axes,  for  these  natives  understand  so  little  of 
the  value  of  gold  or  silver  money  that  I  have  known  a  native, 
who  received  a  sovereign  from  a  trader  in  payment,  shortly 
afterwards  give  the  sovereign  to  another  trader  in  exchange  for 
an  ordinary  penny  box  of  matches. 

In  the  New  Hebrides  and  the  Solomon  Islands  I  found  one 
or  two  of  these  solitary  copra  collectors,  and  I  propose  this 
evening  to  lay  before  you  the  information  I  obtained  from  the 
one  living  among  the  Solomon  natives.  He  was  a  German  who 
had  re-named  himself  "Howard,"  and  he  seemed  an  observant, 
thoughtful,  and  well-educated  man.  While  very  reticent  as  to 
his  reasons  for  having  left  the  Fatherland  to  take  up  his  abode 
in  this  out-of-the-way  spot,  he  was  readily  communicative  about 
the  manners  and  customs  of  natives  around  him. 

Parenthetically,  it  may  be  said  of  these  natives,  as  it  has  ere 
this  been  remarked  about  others,  that  "manners  they  have 
none,  and  their  customs  are  beastly  "  in  the  matter  of  devouring 
each  other. 

During  one  of  the  periodical  visits  of  H.M.S.  "  Diamond  "  to 
the  Solomons,  I  wrote  down  a  number  of  questions  of  an  an- 
thropological nature  in  a  note  book,  and  left  the  book  with  the 
German,  asking  him  to  fill  in  the  answers  to  the  best  of  his 
knowledge  'at  his  leisure. 

Some  months  afterwards,  the  ship  again  called  at  this  spot, 
and  I  received  my  book  from  "  Mr.  Howard  "  with  most  of  my 
questions  pretty  fully  answered.  These  questions  and  answers 
are  now  before  the  meeting,  but  as  the  exceedingly  interesting 
exhibition  of  living  specimens  of  the  Australian  aborigines  has 
occupied  most  of  the  time  at  disposal,  the  matter  must  un- 
avoidably be  allowed  to  stand  over  till  the  printing  of  the 
Journal  of  Proceedings,  in  which  the  notes  can  be  read  in 
detail.  I  must  say  that  the  admirable  little  publication  (too 
seldom  used  by  travellers)  named  "  The  Admiralty  Manual  of 
Scientific  Inquiry,"  was  my  guide  in  making  these  investi- 
gations. 


92  LIEUT.  F.  ELTON. — Notes  on  Natives 

Questions  and  Answers  relating  to  the  Solomon  Islands. 

Question  1.  What  is  the  average  height  and  weight  of  the 
people  ?  A  note  of  any  extreme  cases,  large  or  small,  will  be 
interesting. 

Answer.  The  average  height  is  between  5  and  6  feet.  The 
largest  man  I  have  seen  on  Ugi  measured  6  feet  8  inches,  his 
weight  was  184  Ibs.  The  smallest  full  grown  man  was,  if  I 
remember  rightly,  4  feet  2  inches  in  height  and  his  weight  was 
over  90  Ibs. 

Corpulence  is  not  prevalent  among  the  natives  of  the  Solomon 
Islands.  I  have  only  seen  one  corpulent  man  at  San  Christoval, 
and  I  should  think  that  his  weight  exceeded  200  Ibs.  The 
average  weight  is  between  120  and  150  Ibs. :  the  natives  are,  on 
the  whole,  well  made,  and  there  are  not  many  cripples  among 
them. 

Question  2.  Is  there  any  prevailing  peculiarity  in  the  shape  of 
the  head,  especially  about  the  upper  and  lower  parts  ? 

Answer.  None  that  I  know  of.  I  have  found  a  difference 
between  skulls  from  Malayta  and  San  Christoval. 

Question  3.  What  is  the  usual  colour  of  the  eyes  and  skin  ? 

Answer.  The  eyes  vary  in  colour  from  a  light  to  a  very  dark 
brown,  just  as  the  colour  of  the  skin  does.  On  the  islands  of 
St.  Anna,  San  Christoval,  Ugi,  Ulava,  Malayta,  Guadalcanal 
and  Florida  the  colours  of  the  skin  varies  greatly  from  a  light 
copper  colour  to  a  very  dark  brown  almost  approaching  black. 
The  beach  people  on  the  island  of  Isabel  are  the  same,  while 
the  bush  people  at  the  north  end  of  the  same  island  are  of  a 
remarkably  light  colour.  They  are  very  timid,  building  their 
houses  in  trees  and  only  coming  down  to  the  ground  during  the 
day.  The  natives  of  the  neighbouring  islands,  in  New  Georgia, 
&c.,  are  enemies  to  them,  and  kill  them  in  great  numbers :  they 
likewise  carry  them  off  for  the  purpose  of  making  them  slaves. 
The  natives  of  the  islands  west  of  the  Guadalcanar  (namely, 
Savo,  Eussel  Island,  New  Georgia,  Corrystone,  Choiseul,  Short- 
land  and  Treasury  group,  and  Bougainville)  are  mostly  of  a  black 
colour,  there  being  very  few  light  coloured  natives  among  them. 
A  skin  disease  is  very  prevalent  among  the  whole  race ;  it  is  a 
kind  of  ringworm,  the  natives  call  it  £ucva. 

Question  4.  The  colour  of  the  hair,  and  whether  fine  or  coarse, 
straight  or  curled  or  woolly  ? 

Answer.  The  colour  of  the  hair  is  dark  brownish  originally, 
but  they  powder  their  hair  with  lime  and  red  ochre,  which 
changes  the  colour  to  a  light  reddish  brown.  On  the  island  of 
San  Christoval  this  custom  is  not  in  general  use.  The  hair  is 


of  tlu  Solomon  Islands.  93 

soft  and  bushy,  or  curled  in  some  instances,  with  a  few  ex- 
ceptions of  soft  straight  hair  of  a  light  brown  colour. 

Question  5.  Is  the  head  round  or  elongated  in  either  direction  ? 
Is  the  face  broad,  oval,  or  of  any  other  strange  form  ? 

Answer.  There  is  no  peculiarity  in  the  shape  of  the  head.  The 
forehead  is  mostly  low,  in  some  instances  high,  and  I  find  these 
the  most  intelligent,  often  the  most  villainous.  The  nose  is  flat 
and  stubby  in  most  natives,  although  I  have  seen  some  with  a 
straight  nose.  There  are  some  very  pleasant  features  both 
amongst  the  males  and  females. 

Question  6.  Does  infanticide  occur,  and  for  what  special 
reasons  ? 

Answer.  On  the  island  of  Ugi  and  among  the  beach  people 
of  San  Christoval  it  is  a  common  thing  to  kill  the  children  at 
their  birth  by  digging  a  hole  in  the  earth  away  from  their 
habitations :  the  mother  lets  the  child  drop  into  the  hole  and 
covers  it  up  immediately.  They  say  that  it  is  too  much  trouble 
to  rear  a  child  :  they  would  rather  buy  a  grown  up  child  from  the 
bush  people  for  native  money,  who  keep  their  children  for  the 
sole  object  of  selling  them  to  the  beach  people.  On  the  other 
islands  of  the  Solomon  group  infanticide  does  not  occur,  unless 
in  an  extreme  case,  such  as  the  child  being  a  bastard.  On  the 
island  of  Ugi  the  women  often  procure  abortion.  I  have  known 
several  cases  of  three  to  seven  months'  pregnancy,  where  abortion 
was  procured,  bat  could  never  find  out  exactly  what  they  used  to 
procure  the  same.  I  am  aware  that  there  is  a  certain  shrub 
growing  in  the  islands,  the  leaves  whereof  they  use  for  this 
purpose,  by  making  a  drink  of  them  :  likewise  they  wear  tight 
bandages  round  their  waist.  There  are  only  a  few  women  who 
understand  this,  and  they  make  rather  a  profitable  trade  by  it. 
Of  all  the  natives  I  have  had  intercourse  with,  I  find  the  Ugi 
and  San  Christoval  natives  the  most  lazy  and  avaricious,  like- 
wise the  most  immoral.  All  young  women,  no  matter  whether 
a  chiefs  daughter  or  a  slave's,  are  prostitutes.  In  the  western 
islands  of  this  group  this  is  not  the  case,  there  being  prostitutes 
or  rambus  among  them,  but  they  are  the  slaves  caught  in 
warfare,  any  prostitution  among  the  natives  of  the  place 
being  punished  either  by  death  or  a  heavy  fine.  On  Ugi  a 
native  prefers  in  marriage  a  woman  that  is  getting  old  in  the 
trade. 

Question  7.  "What  is  the  practice  as  to  dressing  and  cradling 
children  ?  Are  there  any  reasons  connected  with  it  tending  to 
alter  the  shape  of  the  head  or  feet  or  other  parts  ? 

Answer.  There  is  very  little  to  be  said  on  this  subject.  The 
mother  carries  the  child  with  her  wherever  she  goes.  The  first 


94  LIEUT.  F.  ELTON. — Notes  on  Natives 

six  months  the  child  is  not  taken  out  of  the  house,  neither  will 
the  mother  leave  the  house,  the  father  doing  all  the  household 
duties,  if  the  family  is  not  rich  enough  to  keep  slaves.  They  do 
not  alter  the  shape  of  any  part,  except  the  nose  and  ears,  which 
they  pierce  and  then  put  little  blocks  of  wood  in  them.  The 
mother  carries  the  child  on  the  left  hip  in  a  sling  thrown 
across  the  right  shoulder. 

Question  8.  Are  the  children  easily  reared  ? 

Answer.  A  native  never  strikes  his  own  child  and  concedes  to 
all  its  wishes.  As  soon  as  the  children  are  able  to  run  about 
they  are  left  to  themselves. 

Question  9.  At  what,  age  does  puberty  take  place  ? 

Ansiver.  That  is  hard  to  say  to  a  certainty.  Natives  do  not 
keep  account  of  their  age.  I  should  say  15  years. 

Question  10.  Are  more  than  one  child  at  a  birth  frequent  ? 
Are  there  more  boys  than  girls  at  birth ;  and  in  the  tribes  are 
there  more  men  than  women,  or  the  reverse  ? 

Answer.  I  have  seen  twins,  but  I  believe  that  it  happens  very 
seldom.  Natives  seem  astonished  when  I  tell  them  of  white 
women  having  twins  often.  On  some  islands,  especially  on 
Ugi  and  San  Christoval  there  are  more  men  than  women. 

Question  11.  At  about  what  age  do  the  women  stop  bearing 
children  ?  And  for  how  long  do  they  generally  suckle  them  ? 

Answer.  I  can  hardly  tell  at  what  age,  I  should  say  at  about 
45  years.  I  have  never  seen  a  large  family  on  San  Christoval 
and  Ugi.  The  most  I  saw  was  five  children  and  they  were  born 
in  the  first  10  years  of  their  marriage.  The  mother  suckles  the 
child  until  it  weans  itself  at  the  age  of  about  two  years. 

Question  12.  What  are  the  ceremonies  and  practices  connected 
with  marriage? 

Answer.  In  different  islands  there  are  different  customs.  On 
Ugi  and  San  Christoval  the  practice  is  as  follows : — If  a  man 
wants  a  wife,  he  cooks  a  dish  full  of  yams  and  cocoa-nuts  and 
carries  it  to  the  house  of  his  bride  elect,  whence  he  returns 
without  uttering  a  word.  The  next  morning  he  returns  to  take 
the  dish  away.  If  the  food  has  not  been  eaten,  he  is  not 
accepted,  and  he  takes  this  as  an  insult ;  if,  on  the  other  hand 
the  bowl  is  empty  and  a  couple  of  fathoms  of  money  left  in- 
stead of  it,  he  is  not  accepted  either,  but  the  family  wishes  to 
keep  on  friendly  terms  with  the  suitor.  Finally,  if  the  dish  be 
entirely  empty  he  is  accepted.  The  girl  has  very  little  to  say  in 
regard  to  her  marriage,  it  being  all  arranged  by  her  parents  and 
friends.  There  is  no  ceremony  attached  to  the  marriage.  The 
bridegroom  takes  the  girl  either  to  his  house  or  goes  and  stays 
for  a  time  with  her  parents,  partly  to  show  his  ability  to  keep  a 


of  the  Solomon  Islands.  95 

wife,  and  partly  to  see  what  sort  of  housewife  she  will  make. 
If  he  is  not  satisfied  with  the  girl,  he  is  allowed  to  return  her  to 
her  parents,  who  have  to  pay  the  young  man  for  keeping  the 
girl.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  intends  to  make  her  his  wife,  he 
pays  to  the  girl's  parents  about  12  to  20  fathoms  of  Makua  money 
and  makes  a  large  feast,  at  which  great  quantities  of  pork, 
opossum,  fish,  yams,  taros,  and  cocoa-nuts,  are  consumed.  The 
parents  of  the  bride  have  to  give  a  feast  in  return.  If  the  hus- 
band at  any  time  choose  to  send  his  wife  back  to  her  parents, 
they  would  have  to  return  to  him  the  money  paid  for  her. 

Question  13.  Is  more  than  one  wife  the  usual  thing  ? 

Answer.  On  the  islands  east  of  Guadalcanar  the  natives 
generally  keep  only  one  wife,  although  polygamy  is  in  use. 
Only  a  few  chiefs  are  married  to  two  wives.  On  the  island  of 
Guadalcanar  and  on  all  the  islands  west  of  it,  men  marry  as 
many  wives  as  they  can  keep.  I  know  a  chief  in  Port  Fowler, 
by  name  of  Goray,  who  is  married  to  34  wives  and  has  over 
70  children  by  them.  They  all  live  in  a  village  by  themselves. 
His  eldest  son  is  married  to  10  wives  and  has  got  over  15 
children. 

Question  14.  Do  divorces  take  place ;  and  are  they  frequent  ? 

Answer.  Sometimes,  but  not  very  often.  When  a  man  chooses 
his  wife  he  knows  her  well  and  has  been  living  with  her  before 
marriage. 

Question  15.  What  is  the  usual  food  of  the  people;  and  what 
are  their  modes  of  cooking  ? 

Answer.  They  live  chiefly  on  yams,  fish,  and  cocoa-nuts,  and 
prepare  these  in  different  ways,  by  making  a  sort  of  pudding  of 
yams  and  cocoa-nuts  or  of  a  small  oily  nut  not  unlike  an 
almond.  They  possess  pigs,  dogs,  cats,  fowls,  all  of  which 
animals  they  use  as  food,  but  they  mostly  feed  on  vegetables. 
They  have  taros,  both  cultivated  and  wild.  They  eat  the  leaves 
of  different  trees  as  salad  or  make  soups  of  them.  Their  original 
cooking  utensils  consist  of  deep  wooden  dishes  of  different 
sizes,  sometimes  neatly  carved  and  inlaid  with  pearl  shell.  They 
cook  their  food,  wrapped  up  in  leaves,  between  hot  stones.  If 
they  make  soup  they  put  the  ingredients  into  a  dish  and  keep 
putting  hot  stones  into  it,  until  the  water  boils.  The  bush- 
people  do  so  at  the  present  time,  but  the  beach  people  buy  sauce- 
pans and  other  cooking  utensils  to  boil  their  food  in. 

Question  16.  How  many  meals  do  they  take  in  a  day?  Can 
they  go  without  food  for  any  length  of  time  ?  And  are  they 
able  to  work  hard,  or  for  any  long  time  ? 

Answer.  In  a  well  regulated  household  they  take  two  meals, 


96  LIEUT.  F.  ELTON. — Notes  on  Natives 

at  10  a.m.  and  6  p.m.  Natives  can  go  without  food  for  a 
long  time.  If  a  relative  dies,  they  taboo  themselves  from 
eating  everything  that  grows  underneath  the  ground,  also  from 
all  saltwater  fish ;  then  they  live  on  cocoa-nuts  alone,  with  a 
few  bananas  occasionally.  They  are  able  to  work  hard  for  a 
long  time.  The  natives  of  the  Solomon  Islands  are  highly 
prized  in  Fiji  and  Queensland,  to  which  places  they  emigrate  in 
large  numbers,  for  their  willingness  to  work. 

Question  17.  What  is  the  usual  style  of  dress ;  and  what 
made  of '(  Do  they  tattoo  or  otherwise  alter  their  bodies  for  the 
sake  of  ornament  or  distinction  ? 

Answer.  The  men  all  through  the  Solomon  Islands  cover  their 
private  parts  only  with  a  narrow  strip  of  calico,  or  with  leaves 
when  calico  is  not  to  be  obtained.  The  women  dress  differently 
on  different  islands.  On  the  islands  east  of  Guadalcanar  single 
girls  go  entirely  naked,  but  married  women  wear  a  little  fringe 
made  of  the  bark  of  a  tree,  as  a  distinction  of  their  marriage. 
On  Guadalcanar,  Florida,  and  the  islands  west  of  them  they 
wear  petticoats  made  of  banana  leaves.  In  places  where  white 
men  have  not  been  or  very  seldom  go  to,  the  men  will  go  naked 
also.  They  do  not  tattoo- their  bodies  as  a  general  rule. 

Question  18.  Are  the  people  long  or  short  lived  ?  State  aiiy 
well-known  cases  of  extreme  old  age. 

Answer.  I  should  say  that  they  are  not  long  lived  as  a  rule. 
I  know  of  only  a  few  old  people  among  the  beach  tribes  of  San 
Christoval.  The  natives  have  no  idea  what  their  age  is.  The 
oldest  man  I  know,  seems  to  be  about  70  years  of  age. 

Question  19.  How  do  they  generally  treat  the  sick  ;  and  is 
there  any  superstition  connected  with  the  treatment  ? 

Answer.  They  use  no  medicine  of  any  sort,  and  sick  people 
have  to  do  the  best  they  can  for  themselves.  They  believe  that 
the  devil  or  Atvoa  made  them  sick.  Some  people  profess  to 
have  intercourse  with  this  spirit,  and  they  are  called  for  in  case 
of  sickness.  Lime  plays  a  great  part  in  regard  to  driving  the 
devil  out  of  a  sick  person.  The  medicine  man  will  take  a 
pinch  of  lime  and  murmur  a  few  words  over  it,  put  it  after  that 
into  a  small  leaf  and  fasten  it  on  some  part  of  the  patient.  He 
takes  as  payment  for  his  services  either  some  Makua  money  or 
some  tobacco.  The  natives  on  Ugi  know  the  value  of  the 
medicines  of  the  whites,  and  often  come  to  get  some  from  me. 
Still  they  must  have  the  lime  also,  and  generally  they  ascribe 
their  recovery  to  the  lime  and  not  to  our  medicines. 

Question  20.  Are  the  people  troubled  with  internal  worms  ? 
Answer.  Children  are,  but  not  fully  grown  persons,  so  far  as  I 
know. 


of  the  Solomon  Islands.  97 

Question  21.  How  are  the  dead  disposed  of? 

Answer.  In  several  ways.  No  matter  what  person  or  rank,  as 
soon  as  any  of  the  natives  die,  all  the  people  of  the  village  go 
to  the  house  of  the  deceased  and  lament  and  howl  there  for  two 
or  three  days :  if  a  person  of  distinction,  longer.  After  the 
second  day  the  corpse,  if  of  a  slave,  is  wrapt  in  cocoa-nut  leaves 
and  taken  in  a  canoe  some  distance  off  the  beach,  and  there 
thrown  overboard.  If  a  person  of  distinction,  he  is  taken  into 
the  bush,  then  laid  on  a  platform  and  left  until  all  the  flesh  has 
rotted  off  the  bones,  which  are  afterwards  carefully  gathered, 
put  into  baskets  and  hung  up  in  their  houses.  If  a  chief  dies, 
they  keep  the  corpse  near,  or  sometimes  in  the  village,  and  two 
of  his  friends  wash  him  every  day  until  the  bones  are  clean. 
They  are  then  put  into  a  basket,  or  sometimes  placed  in 
a  coffin,  made  so  as  to  resemble  a  shark,  and  put  into  the 
tamboo  house.  This  is  the  devil  of  the  natives.  They  offer  to 
him  the  first  fruits  of  the  season,  such  as  yams,  taros,  bread- 
fruit, cocoa-nuts,  &c.  If  they  kill  a  pig  or  have  a  feast  the 
devil  gets  the  first  of  everything  that  is  cooked.  They  say  they 
go  at  night  and  have  intercourse  with  the  devil,  and  all  such 
nonsense. 

Question  22.  Is  there  any  idea  of  a  future  state ;  and  of  what 
sort? 

Answer.  All  they  believe  is  that  after  death  they  are  spirits, 
resembling  the  image,  and  can  do  what  they  like  with  the 
living  persons. 

Question  23.  What  is  the  usual  kind  of  dwelling  house  ? 

Answer.  The  houses  on  the  eastern  islands  of  this  group  are 
about  from  8  to  15  feet  high ;  in  the  western  islands  they  build 
them  higher,  up  to  about  40  feet.  They  all  use  the  leaves  of  the 
vegetable  ivory  palm  as  thatch,  and  light  wood  or  bamboo  for 
sides.  Some  natives  keep  their  houses  tidy,  but  on  the  whole 
they  are  squalid  and  dirty.  In  every  village  they  have  at  least 
one  so-called  tamboo  house  or  tohe,  generally  the  largest  build- 
ing in  the  settlement.  This  is  only  for  the  men,  it  being  death 
for  a  female  to  enter  there.  It  is  used  as  a  public  place  and 
belongs  to  the  community.  Any  stranger  coming  to  the  village 
goes  to  the  tamboo  house  and  remains  there  until  the  person  he 
is  in  quest  of  meets  him  there. 

Question  24.  Have  they  any  monuments?  What  sort  and 
what  for  ? 

Answer.  They  have  no  monuments  of  any  sort. 

Question  25.  What  are  the  domestic  animals  ?  Where  did 
these  animals  first  come  from ;  and  are  they  altered  by  the 
climate  or  food  they  live  upon  ? 

VOL.  XVII.  H 


98     LIEUT.  ELTOX. — Notes  on  Natives  of  trie  Solomon  Islands. 

Answer.  They  possess  pigs,  dogs,  cats,  and  fowls.  The 
natives  confess  that  the  pigs  were  brought  here  by  white  men 
a  long  time  ago.  They  are  of  an  inferior  breed,  with  very  long 
heads.  Dogs,  I  believe,  are  natives  of  the  islands.  They  re- 
semble a  fox  more  than  a  dog.  They  do  not  bark  but  howl, 
and  live  mostly  on  vegetable  food.  The  natives  are  very  kind 
to  them.  Cats  and  fowls  have  not  been  long  among  the  natives. 
The  predominating  colour  of  the  animals  is  a  reddish  brown. 

Question  26.  What  is  the  kind  of  government  ?  Any  odd 
details  about  their  religion,  &c.,  &c.,  will  be  most  interesting. 

Answer.  They  have  no  established  government.  If  a  man  is 
married  and  got  a  little  money  and  a  few  slaves,  he  calls  him- 
self a  chief,  but  does  not  exercise  any  power  over  his  slaves ; 
they  do  pretty  well  as  they  like.  They  recognise  one  or  two  as 
the  head  chiefs  or  mani  pina  in  a  village,  but  do  not  listen  to 
them  unless  in  a  fight,  or  in  any  of  their  tamboos.  The  white 
trader's  tobacco  has  more  power  than  a  chief's  word.  But  should 
a  chief  put  a  taboo  on  anything,  say,  against  eating  yams  or 
cocoa-nuts,  they  will  observe  it  most  strictly.  If  anybody  dies, 
his  relations  are  tabooed  from  eating  anything  that  grows 
underneath  the  ground,  likewise  from  all  saltwater  fish  for  the 
space  of  about  one  year  or  less,  according  to  the  rank  of  the  de- 
ceased. They  carve  images  and  put  them  into  their  tamboo 
houses  or  yam  plantations,  and  believe  them  to  have  power 
over  all  evil  spirits. 

Question  27.  How  do  they  note  and  divide  their  time  ?  How 
do  they  carry  on  war ;  and  what  are  their  usual  weapons  ? 

Answer.  They  divide  their  time  into  days,  months,  and  years. 
The  days  they  note  by  the  sun,  the  months  by  the  moon  and 
the  year  by  the  growth  of  a  yam.  Their  warfare  consists  in 
treachery  and  surprise.  They  never  stand  in  open  fair  fight. 
If  they  are  not  able  to  kill  their  enemy  with  one  blow,  they  do 
not  stop  to  give  him  another,  but  take  to  their  heels.  Their 
usual  weapons  are  tomahawks,  clubs,  spears,  and  bows  and 
arrows.  They  possess  many  guns,  but  I  have  heard  of  very  few 
cases  where  men  died  by  getting  shot.  Although  the  natives  are 
very  fair  marksmen  when  cool  and  collected,  yet  in  a  surprise 
they  fire  off  their  guns  without  taking  aim.  Some  time  ago  a 
native  had  a  shot  at  me  not  10  paces  off,  with  intent  to  kill,  but 
missed. 

Concluding  Remarks  ly  Lieutenant  Elton. 

You  will  observe  that  in  Mr.  Howard's  answer  to  my  eighth 
question,  he  refers  to  the  domestic  briuging-up  of  the  child  and 


List  of  Presents.  99 

not  to  its  progress  in  physical  growth  and  strength,  which  was 
the  sense  of  my  question. 

In  reply  to  my  fifteenth  question  as  to  the  usual  food  of  the 
people,  he  has  confined  himself  strictly  to  naming  the  usual 
daily  victuals  and  has  not  spoken  of  the  human  flesh  they 
occasionally  feast  on ;  but  he  verbally  informed  me  that  the 
natives  round  him  at  Ugi  now  and  then  went  over  to  the 
neighbouring  island  of  Guadalcanar,  and  bought  human  victims 
for  an  approaching  feast  time ;  these  victims  being  mostly 
women.  These  women  were  then  taken  away  in  canoes  and 
regularly  fattened  in  their  purchasers'  villages  till  the  festive 
time-  Then  they  were  deliberately  killed  and  eaten,  just  as 
fattened  pigs  would  be. 

When  they  happened  to  be  fighting  with  neighbouring 
villages  or  tribes,  they  always  feasted  on  any  unlucky  enemy 
they  captured  or  killed ;  but  these  capturings  and  killings  were 
not  on  a  large  scale,  as  these  natives  are  exceedingly  cowardly 
and  timid  fighters.  Hence  human  flesh  by  purchase  was  more 
to  their  liking  and  more  common. 


MAY  IOTH,  1887. 

FKANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors : — 

FOE  THE  LIBRARY. 

From  H.E.  the  BRAZILIAN  MINISTER. — Archives  do  Museu  Nacional 

do  Rio  de  Janeiro.     Vol.  VI.     1885. 
From  ROBERT  OUST,  Esq. — The  Origin  of  Primitive  Money.     By 

Horatio  Hale. 

From  the  AUTHOR. — The  Oceanic  Languages  Shemitic.     By  Rev. 
D.  Macdonald. 

Canoes  und  Canoebau  in  den  Marshall-Inselm.     By  Dr.  0. 

Finsch. 

Hausbau,  Hauser,  und  Siedelungen  an  der  Siidostkiiste  von 

Neil-Guinea.     By  Dr.  0.  Finsch. 
-  L'lndice  ilio-pelvico  o  un  indice  sessuale  del  bacino  nelle  razze 

umane.     By  Prof.  G.  Sergi. 

—  Sul  terzo  condllo  occipitale  e  sulle  apofisi  paroccipitali.     By 
Prof.  G.  Sergi. 

H  2 


100  V.  HORSLEY.  —Trephining  in  the 

From  the  AUTHOR. — Prebasioccipitale  o  basiotico  (Albrecht).     By 

Prof.  G.  Sergi. 

Ricerche  di  Psicologia  sperimentale.     By  Prof.  G.  Sergi. 

—  Interparietali    e    preinterparietali    del    cranio    umano.     By 

Prof.  G.  Sergi. 

Antropologia  Fisica  della  Fuegia.     By  Prof.  G.  Sergi. 

From  the  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. — Mineral  Resources 

of  the  United  States.     Calendar  Year  1885. 
From  the  BERLIN  GESELLSCHAFT  FUR  ANTHROPOLOGIE,  ETHNOLOGIE, 

UND  URGESCHICHTE. — Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologic.     1886,  Heft 

6;  1887,  Heft  1. 

From  the  ESSEX  FIELD  CLUB. — The  Essex  Naturalist.     No.  4. 
From  the  SCOTTISH  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY. — The    Scottish    Geo- 
graphical Magazine.     Vol.  III.     No.  5. 
From  the  ARCH.EOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND. 

— The  Archaeological  Journal.     No.  173. 
From  the  ASSOCIATION. — Journal   of   the   East  India  Association. 

Vol.  XIX.     No.  3. 
From  the  SOCIETY. — Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.     Nos.  1797, 

1798. 

Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society.     1887,  May. 

Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.     Nos.  272,  273. 

Proceedings  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.  1886,  December  ; 

1887,  January. 
Mittheilungen  der  Anthropologischen  Gesellschaft  in  Wien. 

Band  XVI.     Heft.  3,  4. 
From  the  EDITOR. — Nature.     Nos.  913,  914. 
-  The  Photographic  Times.     Nos.  292,  293. 

Journal  of  Hydrotherapeutics.     No.  1. 

L'Homme.     1887.     No.  5. 


Prof.  FLOWER  read  a  letter  from  Emin  Pasha,  dated  Wadelai, 
8th  November,  1886. 

Prof.  VICTOR  HORSLEY,  F.R.S.,  delivered  a  discourse  on 
"  Trephining  in  the  Neolithic  Period,"  illustrated  by  numerous 
photographic  transparencies  projected  on  the  screen  by  the 
oxyhydrogen  lantern. 

TREPHINING  in  the  NEOLITHIC  PERIOD. 
By  VICTOR  HORSLEY,  B.S.,  F.K.S.,  &c. 

(Abstract). 

THE  object  the  author  had  in  view  was  to  obtain  the  criticism  of 
the  Anthropological  Institute  upon  certain  views  which  he  had 
formed  from  a  surgical  standpoint,  of  the  operative  procedure  of 
trephining  as  practised  by  the  people  of  the  polished  stone 
epoch,  and  the  reasons  which  led  to  its  performance. 


Neolithic  Period.  101 

After  discussing  the  evidence  which  has  now  accumulated 
respecting  the  probable  mode  of  operating,  namely,  whether  it 
was  done  by  boring,  scraping,  or  sawing,  he  shewed  reason  for 
believing  that  in  the  majority  of  instances  it  was  by  means  of 
sawing,  and  that  in  some  cases  this  might  have  been  supple- 
mented by  scraping.  The  evidence  upon  which  these  opinions 
were  based  was  supplied  by  numerous  photographs1  of  speci- 
mens in  the  Broca  Museum  and  elsewhere. 

The  most  usual  seat  of  operation  was  next  discussed,  and  in 
illustration  of  this  part  of  the  subject  photographs  were  shewn 
of  a  skull  upon  which  the  author  had  marked  in  outlines,  the 
margins  of  all  the  trephine  openings  of  which  he  had  been  able 
to  obtain  specimens. 

By  means  of  this  composite  arrangement  it  was  demonstrated 
beyond  question,  that  in  almost  all  the  known  instances  of  this 
practice  the  opening  in  the  skull  was  made  over  that  portion  of 
the  surface  of  the  brain  which  is  known  to  be  more  especially 
the  seat  of  representation  of  movement.  This  region  of  the 
brain,  moreover,  is  the  seat  of  origin  of  that  special  form  of  con- 
vulsions which  is  known  as  Jacksoniaii  epilepsy,  and  which  so 
frequently  follows  injuries  to  the  skull  and  brain.  The  ana- 
tomical grounds,  therefore,  for  accepting  the  view  that  the  opera- 
tion was  performed  to  relieve  urgent  symptoms  of  the  kind 
mentioned  would  appear  to  be  very  strong. 

But  further  facts  of  interest  exist  in  this  connection.  This 
special  form  of  epilepsy  most  usually  commences  with  a  peculiar 
sensation  in  one  definite  part  of  the  body,  whence  it  travels  up 
the  limb  towards  the  head,  this  usually  constituting  the  aura  or 
warning  of  the  onset  of  the  fit.  This  factor  is  of  special  import- 
ance since  it  commonly  happens  that  at  the  moment  when  the 
sensation  appears  to  reach  the  head  consciousness  is  lost.  If, 
moreover,  the  mischief  is  occasioned  by  a  depressed .  fracture 
there  will  be  considerable  tenderness  at  the  injured  place,  and 
this  becomes  exaggerated  at  the  period  of  convulsions.  Putting 
these  facts  together  with  minor  details  of  such  cases  too  nume- 
rous to  be  mentioned  here,  the  following  mode  in  which  the 
practice  may  have  originated  among  so  savage  a  people  seems  to 
be  possible. 

The  tender  cicatrix  may  have  first  been  excised  as  the  source 
of  pain. 

This  probably  would  have  produced  a  temporary  benefit, 
sufficient  to  encourage  the  patient  to  undergo,  in  case  of  relapse, 
a  further  operation  for  the  removal  of  bone. 

1  Prof.  Horsley  was  very  greatly  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Prof.  Duval  and 
Prof.  Topinard,  who  permitted  him  to  take  numerous  photographs  of  the  unique 
specimens  under  their  care. 


102  Discussion. 

This  would  in  most  cases  be  followed  by  relief,  not  merely  of 
the  pain  but  of  the  fits  also. 

Consequently  the  operation  would  gain  a  certain  reputa- 
tion for  the  cure  of  convulsions,  generally,  and  as  such  might 
have  been  frequently  practised  among  savages  to  whom  pain  is 
of  slight  consequence. 

The  author  then  alluded  to  the  various  theories  which  have 
been  promulgated  to  explain  this  interesting  problem,  and 
shewed  reasons  for  not  accepting  them. 

DISCUSSION. 

Sir  JAMES  PAGET,  having  been  called  upon  by  the  President  to 
open  the  discussion,  said  that  he  had  studied  the  subject  too  little 
to  speak  on  many  of  the  points  referred  to  by  Mr.  Horsley,  but 
thought  that  he  had  shown  the  great  probability  that  the  opening 
of  the  skull  was,  in  different  instances,  practised  in  all  the  three 
methods  described  by  him.  The  sloping  bevelled  edges  of  some  of 
the  openings  seemed  sufficient  evidence  of  the  chiselling ;  the 
minute  holes  arranged  in  forms  approaching  circles  indicated  the 
drilling ;  the  deep-cut  narrow  lines  the  sawing ;  and  so  far  as  he 
knew  or  had  seen  in  the  many  dissected  skulls  in  the  Museum  of 
the  College  of  Surgeons  and  in  other  museums,  there  was  none 
of  them  that  made  it  probable  that  the  charges  illustrated  by  Mr. 
Horsley  were  results  of  disease.  Openings  in  the  skull,  due  to  the 
growth  of  tumours  within  it,  .were  not  very  rare,  but  in  these  the 
opening  in  the  outer  table  was  not  larger,  but  often  was  smaller, 
than  that  in  the  inner,  and  there  was  no  bevelling  from  the  outer 
table  to  the  margin  of  the  inner.  Necrosis  of  the  skull  due  to 
disease  might,  when  healed,  nearly  imitate  some  of  the  changes 
referred  to  the  trephining ;  but  such  necrosis  was  rarely  on  only 
one  spot  on  the  skull.  The  specimens  appeared  to  be  excellent 
examples  of  recovery  from  operations  which  were,  probably,  far 
less  dangerous  to  the  rough  uncivilised  people  on  whom  they  were 
practised  than  they  are  now  to  the  more  cultivated  races,  even 
though  these  may  have  all  the  advantages  of  the  skill  and  know- 
ledge which  are  employed  in  modern  surgery. 

Sir  WALTER  BULLER,  K.C.M.Gr.,  on  being  appealed  to  by  the 
President,  as  to  whether  any  form  of  epilepsy  was  common  among 
the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand,  said  that  such  cases,  if  they  did  exist 
must  be  very  rare  indeed,  for  he  could  not  remember  having  met 
with  a  single  instance.  He  added  that  he  had  listened  with  much 
interest  to  Professor  Horsley's  excellent  lecture,  and  that  while 
looking  at  the  limelight  illustrations  he  was  forcibly  reminded  of  a 
Maori  skull  which  had  come  under  his  own  notice.  The  Maori  to 
whom  this  skull  belonged  had  evidently  sustained  a  severe  injury 
in  the  head,  probably  by  a  blow  from  a  tewlia,  tewJia,  or  wooden 
patu,  which  had  completely  laid  open  his  skull  to  the  extent  of 
several  inches.  It  was  evident  that  this  had  happened  during  life, 


Discussion.  103 

and  that  the  subject  had  survived  the  injury,  because  the  sides  of 
the  long  opening  had  become  rounded  over  in  the  process  of 
healing,  as  so  well  explained  and  illustrated  by  Professor 
Horsley.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  man's  history,  but  it  was  clear 
from  the  condition  of  the  bone,  that  he  had  long  survived  this 
terrible  wound,  and  it  was  likely  enough  that  he  had  afterwards 
died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity.  At  any  rate  this  very  interesting 
skull  had  been  preserved,  and  was,  he  believed,  now  in  one  of  the 
Colonial  museums. 

Dr.  PRIESTLEY  said  he  felt  in  some  embarrassment  in  being 
called  upon  to  speak,  as  the  subject  of  the  paper  was  entirely  new 
to  him. 

Mr.  Horsley's  communication  was  extremely  interesting,  and 
from  the  point  of  view  suggested  by  the  President,  would,  of 
course,  have  had  additional  interest  if  any  mention  had  been  made 
of  the  practice  of  trephining  infants  as  well  as  adults.  He  had 
some  recollection  of  having  heard  or  read  of  the  practice  of 
trephining  young  children  in  prehistoric  times,  probably  for  con- 
vulsions and  other  like  ailments,  but  the  operation  was  then  most 
likely  undertaken,  not  for  purely  surgical  reasons,  but  in  the 
superstitious  belief  that  the  demon  which  caused  the  malady  would 
thus  be  liberated. 

It  was  well  known  that  convulsions  in  children  were  relatively 
more  frequent  than  in  adults,  and  consequently  if  in  former  times 
it  were  the  practice  to  trephine  the  skull  for  fits  or  other 
cerebral  ailments  in  grown-up  people,  it  might  be  inferred  that 
the  proceeding  would  more  frequently  be  carried  out  in  younger 
people. 

As  to  the  influence  of  the  operation  on  infantile  mortality,  to 
which  the  President  had  alluded,  he  feared  he  could  say  nothing, 
as  he  knew  of  no  records  on  the  subject. 

Dr.  RTLE  remarked  that  it  was  interesting  to  compare  with  the 
results  of  anthropological  investigation  the  writings  of  the  early 
medical  authors.  Trephining  is  several  times  mentioned  in  the 
works  of  Hippocrates.  In  some  of  his  writings,  about  the 
genuineness  of  which  there  is  no  question,  the  date  of  which 
would  therefore  be  about  400  B.C.,  he  describes  cases  of  head 
injuries  which  he  had  treated  by  trephining,  and  it  may  be  noticed 
that  although  he  had  observed  the  association  of  convulsive  move- 
ments on  one  side  of  the  body  with  injuries  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  head,  he  does  not  endeavour  to  localise  by  means  of  these 
movements  the  site  of  the  injury,  or  the  spot  at  which  the  trephine 
should  be  applied. 

A  still  more  interesting  notice  of  trephining  is  found  in  the 
writings  of  Aretseus,  the  Cappodocian,  who  probably  flourished 
about  the  second  century  of  our  era.  He  actually  advises  the  use 
of  the  trephine  for  the  treatment  of  epilepsy. 

He   does  not   apparently  make  the  distinction  which  we  now 


104  Discussion. 

draw   between    traumatic   and    idiopathic    epilepsy,    but    simply 
recommends  trephining  for  severe  cases. 

His  account  of  cranial  operations  is  particularly  noteworthy 
in  connection  with  the  description  of  the  operations  of  the 
neolithic  people  which  Mr.  Horsley  had  given.  For  cases  of 
simple  pain  in  the  head  localised  scraping  of  the  bone  down  to  the 
diploe  was  practised,  but  when  epilepsy  existed  the  trephine  was 
employed.  And  it  was  employed  in  a  peculiar  manner.  The 
operator  was  not  to  go  deeper  than  the  diploe,  and  was  then  to 
bring  about  the  separation  of  the  inner  layer  of  the  bone  by  the 
use  of  ointments  and  poultices.  If  we  may  allow  ourselves  to 
speculate  upon  the  reasons  which  may  have  led  to  this  practice, 
we  may  suppose  that  the  two  dangers  which  modern  surgeons  are 
familiar  with  in  these  operations,  viz.,  direct  injury  of  the  brain  or 
membranes  by  the  trephine  going  too  deeply,  and  haemorrhage 
from  blood  vessels  lying  on  the  inner  surface  of  the  skull,  were 
recognised  by  these  early  operators,  and  may  have  given  rise  to  the 
method  of  operating  which  Aretaeus  describes.  To  remove  this 
portion  of  the  inner  table  of  the  skull  after  trephining  by  the 
slow  process  of  necrosis  and  exfoliation  of  bone  must  have 
occupied  a  very  considerable  length  of  time.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  know  if  there  are  any  signs  of  this  prolonged  mode  of 
operating  in  the  skulls  of  the  neolithic  age. 

Miss  BUCKLA.ND  said  that  having  had  the  advantage  of  hearing 
Dr.  Broca's  description  of  the  trephined  skulls  in  his  museum,  she 
wished  to  point  out  that  Mr.  Horsley  differed  in  several  particulars 
from  that  distinguished  anthropologist.  Dr.  Broca  had  dismissed 
the  idea  that  these  neolithic  trephinings  had  been  resorted  to  for 
the  relief  of  traumatic  epilepsy,  because  he  found  no  sign  of 
depressed  fracture  either  in  the  region  of  the  operation,  or  in  any 
other  part  of  the  skull,  whilst  almost  invariably  there  were  signs 
of  growth,  proving  that  the  operation  had  been  performed  in  early 
life,  the  parietal  bones  rather  than  the  vertex  being  the  favourite 
part  for  the  operation.  As  regards  the  mode  of  operation,  Dr. 
Broca  had  demonstrated  that  precisely  similar  openings  could  be 
made  by  scraping  with  a  flint  implement  or  piece  of  glass,  and  as 
this  is  the  method  still  in  use  in  the  South  Sea  Islands,  Miss  Buck- 
land  believed  that  Dr.  Broca's  idea  that  the  neolithic  trephinings 
were  thus  performed  was  more  likely  to  be  correct,  than  that  these 
oval  openings  could  have  been  made  by  drilling  or  sawing,  although 
both  the  latter  modes  are  in  use  among  the  Kabyles,  who  possess 
metal  instruments ;  but  the  fact  that  where  the  saw  is  employed,  a 
square  is  marked  out  as  in  Peru,  would  prove  the  practice  to  differ 
from  that  in  use  in  France  in  neolithic  times,  no  square  lines  being 
observable,  so  far  as  she  knew,  on  the  French  trephined  skulls. 
That  these  openings  were  made  to  facilitate  the  exit  of  evil  spirits 
who  had  caused  the  epilepsy  or  infantile  convulsions,  seems  pro- 
bable from  the  fact  that  in  all  ages  such  seizures  were  regarded  as 
the  work  of  evil  spirits,  whilst  the  use  of  cranial  amulets  as 


Discussion.  105 

charms  against  such  diseases,  was  not  confined  to  neolithic  times, 
but  exists  even  at  the  present  day,  as  witnessed  by  an  article  in  the 
"English  Illustrated  Magazine,"  where  it  is  related  that  a  cranial 
amulet  in  Perugia  is  greatly  venerated,  as  having  belonged  to  a 
holy  man  who  had  been  famed  for  the  cure  of  epilepsy,  and  it  is 
suggested  that  pieces  had  been  cut  from  many  skulls  in  the  ceme- 
tery in  that  city  for  similar  uses.  Among  the  Kabyles  the  opera- 
tion seems  to  be  regarded  as  a  religious  rite,  and  there  would 
appear  to  be  so  little  danger  apprehended  from  it  that  a  case  is 
recorded  in  which  a  man  was  trephined  five  times  in  as  many 
years  and  yet  survived. 

«/  «/ 

Prof.  E.  TYRRELL  LEITH  remarked  that  he  thought  greater  atten- 
tion should  have  been  directed  to  primitive  psychology  in  seeking 
an  explanation  of  the  custom  in  question.  He  referred  more 
especially  to  the  doctrine  of  spirit  possession,  which  had  not,  un- 
fortunately, been  hitherto  treated  as  adequately  as  its  great  import- 
ance deserved.  He  ventured  to  suggest  that  considerable  light 
would  be  thrown  on  the  custom  by  comparing  it  with  another, 
which  had  survived  in  India  down  to  modern  times.  When  a 
Sanyasi,  or  Brahman  ascetic,  felt  himself  at  the  point  of  death,  he 
caused  himself  to  be  seated  in  an  open  grave,  which  was  filled  in 
with  salt.  At  a  given  signal  his  skull  was  broken  with  a  cocoa- 
nut  or  stone  by  a  chosen  disciple,  and  earth  was  then  hastily 
heaped  upon  him.  That  rite,  he  believed,  must  have  originated  in 
the  idea  that  as  speedy  an  exit  as  possible  ought  to  be  provided 
for  his  soul,  which,  according  to  a  dogma  of  Hindu  philosophy, 
resided  in  the  top  of  the  head.  In  the  stage  of  human  progress 
known  as  Shamanism,  all  disease  was  attributed  to  demoniacal 
possession,  and  the  Shaman,  or  medicine-man,  was  accordingly 
called  in  to  effect  a  cure  by  expelling  the  evil  spirit  with  the  aid 
of  incantations.  No  cases  afforded  the  savage  mind  more  striking 
proof  of  demoniacal  influence  or  the  efficacy  of  magical  cure  than 
epilepsy.  It  seemed,  therefore,  highly  probable  that  the  process 
of  trephining  had  been  employed  by  primitive  man  in  order  to 
expel  the  demon  who  possessed  the  patient,  especially  in  cases 
of  epilepsy.  Such  an  explanation  was  not  necessarily  opposed  to 
the  theory  propounded  by  Prof.  Horsley  regarding  the  empirical 
discovery  of  a  cure  for  traumatic  epilepsy  by  removing  such  portions 
of  bone  as  pressed  upon  the  brain  in  fracture  of  the  skull.  He 
submitted,  however,  that  a  higher  degree  of  probability  existed  in 
favour  of  his  own  hypothesis,  as  it  was  more  in  accordance  with 
the  mental  process  observable  in  savages  at  the  present  day.  It 
had  been  stated  in  the  paper  that  in  two  of  the  specimens  examined 
it  was  doubtful  whether  trephining  had  been  performed  during 
life.  Even  supposing  it  had  not,  that  fact  was  quite  compatible 
with  his  hypothesis,  for  it  was  a  common  belief  among  the  lower 
races  that  the  soul  remained  in  the  body  for  some  time  after  death. 
As  regarded  the  suggestion  that  the  operation  might  have  been 
employed  for  the  purposes  of  embalming,  he  would  merely  remark 


106  Discussion. 

that  he  did  not  remember  to  have  met  with  any  description  of  its 
use  in  ancient  Egypt.  He  had  always  understood  that,  in  the 
case  of  Egyptian  mummies,  the  brain  was  extracted  by  means  of 
hooked  instruments  through  the  nostrils. 

The  PRESIDENT  said  that  although  the  author  of  the  paper  and 
M.  Broca  had  both  ignored  the  possibility  of  an  instrument  like 
the  modern  trephine  having  ever  been  used  to  cut  circular  discs  out 
of  the  skull,  it  might  be  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  such  instruments 
were  largely  used  by  the  ancient  Egyptian  stone  masons  for  hollow- 
ing their  sarcophagi.  These  were  proved  by  Mr.  Flinders  Petrie  to 
have  been  bronze  tubes,  set  with  teeth  of  very  hard  stones  or 
jewels  ;  the  fact  that  they  were  bronze  being  evidenced  by  the 
marks  they  had  left,  and  the  hardness  of  the  jewelled  teeth  by  the 
depth  of  the  successive  cuts  in  the  stone  cores  that  were  still  to  be 
seen  in  some  of  their  unfinished,  works.  In  fact,  the  Egyptians 
were  masters  of  the  art  of  trephining.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
know  whether,  as  he  believed  he  had  somewhere  read,  trephining 
was  one  of  their  numerous  surgical  operations,  and,  if  so,  whether 
there  was  any  evidence  of  the  holes  having  had  vertical  edges.  Of 
course,  a  trephine  on  the  same  principle,  would,  easily  be  made  by 
rude  people  with  tubes  of  other  material  than  bronze,  and  with 
flint  teeth. 

As  regards  the  motives  for  trephining,  he  felt  some  difficulty  in 
accepting  the  very  ingenious  hypothesis  of  the  author,  partly 
because  it  implied  more  intelligence  than  savages  usually  shewed. 
In  their  surgery  and  medicine  they  were  apt  to  proceed  in  a  very 
off  hand,  ruthless,  and  unintelligent  manner,  following  their  fancies 
and  superstition  rather  than  experience.  Another  difficulty  that 
he  felt  was,  that  he  had  no  recollection  of  travellers  speaking  of 
traumatic  epilepsy  among  savages.  Sir  Walter  Buller  had  told 
them  that  he  had  never  heard  of  it  in  New  Zealand,  and  he  him- 
self had  never  heard  of  it  in  South  Africa,  though  heavy  blows, 
not  unfrequently  murderous  ones,  and  very  often  half  murderous, 
were  inflicted  by  their  so-called  "  knob-kerries."  Perhaps  it  was 
owing  to  that  hardness  of  constitution,  on  which  Sir  James  Paget 
had  made  such  interesting  remarks,  that  savages  were  more 
exempt  from  the  risk  of  traumatic  epilepsy  than  ourselves.  It 
would  be  very  important  to  know  precisely  what  are  the  motives 
that  prompt  trephining  the  skull  among  those  rude  races  where 
the  practice  still  exists. 

Prof.  HORSLEY,  in  reply,  desired  to  thank  the  Institute  for  the 
very  kind  manner  in  which  it  had  received  and  discussed  his  views. 

It  was  impossible  to  accept  Miss  Bnckland's  rendering  of  Prof. 
Broca's  view,  for  square  lines  and  distinct  saw  cuts  are  observable 
on  the  French  trephined  skulls. 

Prof.  Leith's  view  that  possibly  it  was  performed  in  cases  of 
ascetics  or  medicine  men  at  the  time  of  death  is  one  well  meriting 
further  investigation. 


List  of  Presents.  107 

MAY  24TH,  1887. 

FRANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.B.S.,  President,  in  the  CJiair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors  : — 

FOR  THE  LIBRARY. 

From    GEORGE    W.   BLOXAM,    Esq.,    M.A. — Proceedings    of    the 

Athenasum  Society.     No.  4. 
From  the  AUTHOR. — Les  Peuplades  de  Madagascar.     By  M.  Max 

Leclerc. 

Une  Nouvelle  Force  ?     Premiere   et    deuxieme  communica- 
tions.    By  J.  Thore. 

From  the  SOCIETY  OF  ANTIQUARIES. — Archseologia.    Vol.  L.    Part  I. 
From     the     KONGL.     VHTERHETS     HISTORIE     OCH     ANTIQVITETS 

AKADEMIEN. — Antiqvarisk  Tidskrift  for  Sverige.      Del.  ix,  Nr. 

1,  2  ;  Del.  x,  NT.  1. 
From  the   FREE  LIBRARY  COMMITTEE   OF  THE  BOROUGH  OF  GREAT 

YARMOUTH. — First  Annual  Report.     1886-87. 
From  the  DEUTSCHE  GESELLSCHAFT  FUR  ANTHROPOLOGIE,  ETHNOLOGIE, 

AND  URGESCHICHTE. — Correspondenz-Blatt.     1887.     No.  4. 
From  the  SOCIETA  ITALIAN  A  DI  ANTROPOLOGIA,  ETNOLOGIA,  E  Psico- 

LOGIA  COMPARATA. — Archivio  per  1'Antropologia  e  la  Etnologia. 

Vol.  xvi,  Fas.  3. 

From  the  INSTITUTION — Journal  of  the  Royal  United  Service  In- 
stitution.    No.  138. 
From  the  SOCIETY. — Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.     Nos.  1799, 

1800. 

Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society.     No.  253. 

• Journal  of  the  China  Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society. 

Vol.  xxi.     Nos.  3,  4. 
Mittheilungen  der  Anthropologischen  Gesellschaft  in  Wien. 

Band  xvii,  Heft  1. 
Schriften   der    Physikalisch-b'konomischen    Gesellschaft    zu 

Konigsberg  i.  Pr.      1886. 
From  the  EDITOR.— Nature.     Nos.  915,  916. 

Photographic  Times.     Nos.  294,  295. 

L'Homme.     1887.     No.  6. 

Revue  d'Anthropologie.     1887.     No.  3. 

Bullettino  di  Paletnologia  Italiana.     1887.     No.  3. 


The  following  Paper  was  read  by  the  Author : — 


108         G.  HAKLEY. — Recuperative  Bodily  Power  oj  Man 


COMPARISON  between  the  RECUPERATIVE  BODILY  POWER  of  MAN 
in  a  RUDE  and  in  a  HIGHLY  CIVILISED  STATE  ;  ILLUSTRATIVE 
of  the  PROBABLE  RECUPERATIVE  CAPACITY  of  MEN  of  the 
STONE-AGE  in  EUROPE. 

By  Dr.  GEORGE  HARLEY,  F.R.S.,  Ex-Professor  in  University 
College,  London. 

THE  collating  of  the  data  constituting  this  communication — 
illustrative  of  the  relative  recuperative  bodily  capacity  of  men 
in  different  positions  of  life — suggested  itself  to  my  mind  by 
Professor  Horsley  having  demonstrated1  in  his  discourse,  de- 
livered at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Anthropological  Institute, 
that  rough,  unlearned  men  of  the  European  stone-age,  had 
successfully  performed  operations  on  the  skulls  of  their 
associates,  which  if  done  nowadays  in  the  same  way,  and  by 
the  same  means,  upon  highly  civilised  men  would  inevitably 
kill  them. 

The  success  of  the  neolithic  man  in  removing  large  portions 
of  the  bony  covering  of  so  delicately  constituted  an  organ  as 
the  human  brain  by  scraping,  chiselling,  or  sawing  it  away  with 
rude  stone  implements,  appears  all  the  more  extraordinary  when 
we  reflect  that  the  generally  entertained  idea  is  that  the  modern 
inhabitant  of  Europe  vastly  excels  his  predecessor  of  the  neolithic 
period,  both  in  bodily  physique  and  mental  power,  surpassing 
him  alike  in  stature  and  in  strength,  as  well  as  in  longevity. 
Consequently  one  would  expect,  other  things  being  equal,  that 
men  of  the  present  period  would  be  able  to  endure  better  and 
recover  quicker  from  bodily  injuries,  whether  accidental  or  in- 
tentional, than  their  less  powerfully  built  neolithic  predecessors. 
As  the  result  of  Professor  Horsley's  researches,  however, 
apparently  prove  that  the  reverse  is  in  reality  the  case,  it  be- 
comes an  interesting  point  for  us  to  determine  whether  or  no, 
in  spite  of  the  men  of  the  stone-age  in  Europe  being  both 
smaller  and  muscularly  weaker  than  the  present  inhabitants  of 
the  same  localities,  they  were  not  actually  possessed,  for  some 
reason  or  another,  of  a  much  greater  bodily  recuperative 
capacity  than  their  more  highly  developed  civilised  successors. 

On  personally  communicating  to  the  President  my  opinions 
on  the  matter,  he  suggested  that  it  might  be  advisable  for  me  to 
embody  them  in  a  paper,  and  communicate  it  to  the  Anthro- 
pological Institute.  I  have  followed  his  advice,  and  am  now 
doing  so,  in  the  hope  that  after  my  ideas  on  the  subject  have 

1  "  On  the  Operation  of  Trephining  during  the  Neolithic  period  in  Europe  ; 
and  on  the  probable  method  and  object  of  its  performance."  See  Ante,  p.  100. 


in  a  Rude  and  in  a  Highly  Civilised  State.  109 

been  heard,  some  of  the  gentlemen  present,  whose  opinions  are 
of  weight  in  all  questions  of  this  kind,  may,  while  commenting 
on  the  communication,  throw  out  additional  fresh  ideas  which 
will  materially  aid  us  in  arriving  at  least  at  some  plausible, 
should  we  fail  to  find  a  perfectly  satisfactory,  solution  to  the 
above-named  apparently  human  constitutional  enigma. 

This  communication,  however,  has  not  solely  that  object  in 
view,  but  also  the  equally  important  one  of  directing  attention 
to  the  vital  degeneracy  of  the  present  race  of  Europeans,  as 
regards  their  bodily  recuperative  capacity. 

In  order  to  save  time,  and  to  make  my  views  perfectly  plain, 
I  shall  at  once  present  them  in  the  form  of  a  proposition,  and 
then  proceed  to  adduce,  as  succinctly  as  I  can,  the  facts  that 
appear  to  me  to  form  a  sufficiently  substantial  basis  to  warrant 
my  entertaining  them. 

My  proposition  is  simply,  that  I  believe,  that  in  spite  of  men 
having  increased  in  weight,  stature,  and  strength,  as  well  as 
their  years  of  life  having  been  augumented  by  their  evolution 
from  a  state  of  barbarism  into  one  of  bien  seance  and  refinement, 
their  bodily  recuperative  powers  have  materially  diminished 
instead  of  having  increased  under  the  otherwise  improving  in- 
fluences of  civilising  agents. 

Indeed,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  discover,  all  the  facts  one 
is  able  to  collect  appear  distinctly  to  prove  that  every  appliance 
adding  to  man's  bodily  comfort,  every  food  pampering  his 
palate  and  exciting  his  appetite,  as  well  as  all  contrivances 
either  stimulating  or  developing  his  mental  faculties  and  powers 
of  perception,  while  adding,  no  doubt,  to  his  personal  enjoy- 
ments, have  a  direct  deteriorating  influence  on  his  animal 
vitality,  rendering  him  less  able  to  resist  the  lethal  effects  of 
bodily  injuries,  or  to  recover  from  them  either  as  quickly  or 
as  well  as  individuals  of  the  same  race  and  temperament  not 
having  similar  corporeal  and  mental  advantages. 

Before  proceeding  to  adduce  data  in  support  of  this  opinion 
it  may  be  advisible  for  me  to  say  that  I  imagine  our  surprise  at 
the  superior  recuperative  powers  of  the  men  inhabiting  Europe 
during  the  stone-age,  in  a  great  measure  arises  from  our  some- 
what erroneously  confounding  together,  and  regarding  as  synony- 
mous, two  entirely  distinct  and  mutually  independent  physio- 
logical factors,  namely,  muscular  strength  and  bodily  recupera- 
tive power;  the  fact  being  that  high  muscular  development 
may  be  associated  with  but  moderate  recuperative  bodily  power, 
and  an  extremely  high  recuperative  bodily  power  with  a  rela- 
tively-speaking moderate  physical  strength.  To  take  extreme 
cases  by  way  of  illustration,  I  may  refer  to  what  is  observed  in 
the  crustacean  and  saurian  species ;  as  both  of  them  demonstrate 


110        G.  HARLEY. — Recuperative  Bodily  Power  of  Man 

the  fact  that  comparatively  speaking  feeble  animals,  low  in  the 
scale  of  development,  possess  a  remarkably  high  recuperative 
bodily  power.  A  crab,  for  example,  can  regenerate  a  lost  toe, 
and  a  lizard  restore  an  amputated  tail. 

With  these  preliminary  observations  I  now  proceed  to  adduce 
proof  that  the  refining  influences  of  civilisation  deteriorate 
human  recuperative  bodily  power ;  and  in  order  to  show  this 
clearly  I  shall  first  call  attention  to  the  relative  recuperative 
powers  of  man  living  in  a  wild  and  in  a  highly  civilised  con- 
dition. As  the  cases  that  have  already  been  published  illustrating 
this  point  are  most  probably  known  to  you  all,  I  shall  refrain  from 
citing  any  of  them,  and  limit  my  illustrations  to  such  as  I  have 
been  able  to  collect  myself.  Moreover,  as  time  is  of  moment 
I  shall  only  give  two  examples  of  each  kind,  selecting  those 
that  I  deem  the  most  conclusive  ;  and  in  order  that  they  may 
be  all  the  more  telling  1  shall  choose  them  from  two  distinctly 
different  races  of  savage  men,  who,  from  living  far  apart,  in 
different  hemispheres  of  the  globe,  and  under  entirely  different 
climatic  influences,  may  be  supposed  to  possess  but  slight,  if 
any,  constitutional  similarity.  The  one  race,  therefore,  will  be 
that  of  the  South  African  CafFre;  the  other  that  of  the  North 
American  Indian. 

First  then  as  regards  the  recuperative  bodily  power  of  the 
male  South  African  CatTre  living  in  a  rude  state.  The  case 
I  select  is  one  furnished  to  me  by  Colonel  Alexander  Moncrieff 
of  an  injury  which,  before  the  days  of  antiseptic  surgery,  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  formidable  and  dangerous  to  life  to 
which  any  human  being  could  be  subjected.  It  is  as  follows : — 

A  Caffre  of  about  thirty  years  of  age  was  so  badly  gored  in 
the  abdomen  by  a  bullock  that  his  bowels  fell  out.  One  of 
his  companions  went  to  his  assistance  ;  gathered  up  the  bowels ; 
washed  and  freed  them  from  the  dirt  which  had  become  attached 
to  them  while  they  were  trailing  on  the  ground ;  replaced  them 
in  the  abdomen,  and  closed  up  the  wound  as  best  he  could. 
And  what  was  the  result  ?  Simply  that  the  wound  healed  by 
"  the  first  intention,"  and  the  injured  man  was  well  and  again 
following  his  usual  avocations  in  a  few  days. 

Now  for  the  case  of  a  North  American  Indian.  While  I  was 
passing  from  the  rugged  volcanic  geyser  district  of  Montana 
into  the  fertile  plains  of  the  Columbia  Elver  in  Oregon,  in  1.884, 
the  conductor  of  our  train  pointed  out  a  one  legged  Indian, 
standing  at  the  depot,  whom  I  mistook  for  a  woman,  from  his 
being  like  the  squaws,  as  devoid  of  hair  on  his  face  as  they  are 
of  projecting  bosoms,  and  not  alone  being  dressed  in  a  similar 
costume,  but  wearing  his  head-hair  in  the  same  long  and  lank 
fashion  as  the  women  do.  This  man,  the  conductor  said,  had 


in  a  Rude  and  in  a  Highly  Civilised  State.  Ill 

hacked  off  the  lower  part  of  his  own  leg  with  a  tomahawk,  in 
order  to  extricate  himself  from  a  crane,  and  afterwards  crawled 
more  than  a  mile  to  his  wigwam  before  he  could  get  assistance. 
Yet  in  spite  of  all  this,  he  was  able  to  hobble  about,  minus  his 
leg,  within  a  fortnight. 

The  two  next  illustrative  examples  of  recuperative  bodily 
power  will  be  that  of  savage  women,  and  for  this  1  purposely  select 
them  in  the  form  of  recoveries  from  childbirth.  Childbirth 
being  an  identical  physical  process  in  all  members  of  the  human 
species,  the  comparative  effects  of  it  in  a  savage  and  in  a  civilised 
state  admits  of  easy  and  definite  comparison. 

It  may,  I  think,  be  pretty  safely  said  that  it  takes  an  average 
healthy  woman,  not  being  a  primipara,  in  the  middle  ranks  of 
European  life,  from  four  to  fourteen  days  to  recover  from  the 
immediate  effects  of  a  natural  accouchement.  Here  then  are 
two  examples  of  the  amount  of  time  rude  savage  women  require 
to  recruit  from  the  same  undertaking. 

The  following  case  was  furnished  to  me  by  John  Mintern,  an 
intelligent  man,  who  acted  as  my  class  servant  during  the  time 
I  filled  the  Chair  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  at  University 
College,  London.  It  fell  under  his  notice  while  he  was  travel- 
ling in  Africa  along  with  the  late  Sir  Andrew  Smith,  as  his 
personal  attendant.  Mintern  said  that  one  morning  while  they 
were  sitting  at  breakfast  a  young  Caffre  woman,  who  formed  one 
of  their  party,  rose  up  and  left  them,  and  soon  after  they  had 
finished  the  meal,  and  were  preparing  to  start  on  the  track, 
returned  to  camp  with  a  face  beaming  with  smiles,  and  a  new 
born  baby  in  her  arms.  I  asked  Mintern  how  long  he  thought  she 
had  been  absent,  and  he  replied  that,  although  he  could  not  say 
positively,  still  judging  from  the  time  they  usually  took  to  their 
meals,  he  did  not  think  she  could  have  been  away  altogether 
more  than  half-an-hour.  Yet  during  that  time  she  had  not  only 
delivered  herself  but  attended  to  her  baby.  The  next  case  is 
one  of  a  North  American  Indian,  kindly  furnished  to  me  by 
Mr.  Charles  Roberts.  I  give  it  in  his  own  words : 

"  When  crossing  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  Canada,  in  1873, 
the  squaw  of  our  Shuswap  Indian  guide,  who  usually  marched 
at  the  head  of  our  party,  dropped  behind,  and  thinking  she  was 
unable  to  keep  up  with  us,  as  she  was  heavily  laden,  with  her 
husband's  gun  in  addition  to  camping  necessaries,  a  halt  was 
ordered  and  we  began  pitching  our  tent.  Before,  however,  we 
had  time  to  accomplish  this  the  squaw  rejoined  us  with  a  newly 
born  infant  added  to  her  luggage,  and  apparently  in  a  perfectly 
fit  state  to  travel.  She  had  certainly  not  been  absent  from  the 
party  for  more  than  an  hour,  during  which  time  she  had  been 
confined  without  any  assistance  whatever,  with  not  even  so 


112        G.  HARLEY. — Recuperative  Bodily  Power  of  Man 

much  as  the  companionship  of  her  lazy  husband.  On  our  pro- 
ceeding on  our  journey  on  the  following  morning  the  woman 
took  up  her  usual  place  as  leader  of  the  party,  carrying  her 
ordinary  load  in  addition  to  her  newly  begotten  child,  and 
marched  along  without  showing  signs  of  either  weakness  or 
fatigue." 

I  shall  now  endeavour  to  show  that  this  apparent  super- 
recuperative  animal  power,  possessed  by  savage  women,  has 
most  probably  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  any  innate  constitu- 
tional peculiarity,  but  arises  solely  from  the  fact  that  the 
savage,  owing  to  her  mode  of  life,  retains  the  natural  aboriginal 
bodily  recuperative  capacity  of  the  human  species,  which  highly 
civilised  woman  has  lost,  by  reason  of  her  refined  mode  of  living. 

This  doctrine  appears  to  be  demonstrable  by  the  fact  that 
women  of  the  same  race,  living  in  the  same  locality,  manifest 
entirely  different  degrees  of  recuperative  power  after  child- 
bearing,  according  to  their  habits  and  positions  in  life. 

One  of  the  best  proofs  of  this,  which  it  is  in  my  power  to  cite, 
came  under  my  own  observation  while  I  was  spending  my 
autumn  holidays  at  Meopham,  in  Kent,  during  1870. 

While  taking  a  walk  one  day,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
hop  harvest,  I  was  accosted  by  a  female  tramp,  of  about  forty 
years  of  age,  carrying  a  newly  born  infant,  rolled  up  in  a  rag, 
of  which,  she  informed  me,  she  had  a  few  minutes  before  de- 
livered herself,  on  the  other  side  of  the  hedge.  She  asked  me  to 
direct  her  to  the  nearest  workhouse.  Seeing  that  the  baby  had 
not  a  particle  of  clothing  upon  it,  and  that  the  nearest  work- 
house was  at  least  seven  miles  away,  I  directed  her  to  a  farm- 
house not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  to  which  she 
immediately  repaired.  On  the  following  morning  I  called  at  the 
farm,  with  the  view  of  assisting  the  woman,  and  on  iny  arrival 
was  told  by  the  farmer  that  she  had  started  early  in  the  morning, 
to  walk  to  Gravesend,  which  being  little  more  than  six  miles  off, 
he  assured  me,  she  would  easily  reach  within  a  couple  of  hours, 
adding,  that  she  had  promised  to  return  to  his  hop  picking  in  a 
day  or  two,  speaking  as  if  he  was  quite  accustomed  to  that  sort 
of  thing,  and  had  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  woman  would 
be  both  able  and  willing  to  fulfil  her  promise. 

The  maternity  feat  of  this  tramp  is  yet  eclipsed  by  that  of  a 
Scotch  woman  living  at  Campsie,  near  Glasgow.  It  was  related 
to  me  by  Mr.  Mortimer  Evans,  in  the  following  words  : 

"  In  1879,  a  woman,  aged  28,  while  engaged  in  washing,  out- 
side her  cottage  door,  was  seized  with  labour  pains.  She  went 
into  the  house,  delivered  herself  of  a  living  child,  and  imme- 
diately afterwards  returned  to  the  tub,  and  finished  her 
washing." 


in  a  Rude  and  in  a  Highly  Civilised  State.  113 

What  gently  reared  Kentish  or  Lanarkshire  lady  would  be 
found  capable  of  accomplishing  feats  like  these  ?  Not  one,  I 
think,  and  yet  they  are  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood  as  their 
less  pecuniarly  favoured  sisters,  whose  recuperative  bodily 
powers,  in  my  opinion,  they  have  good  reason  to  envy. 

In  further  proof  that  the  refining  influences  of  civilisation 
diminish  animal  vitality,  notwithstanding  that  they  improve 
both  physique  and  longevity,  I  shall  give  examples  of  the  de- 
generacy of  bodily  recuperative  power  in  members  of  what  in 
ordinary  language  are  denominated  lower  animals.  Not,  how- 
ever, from  the  lowest,  but  from  the  highest  groups  of  the  brute 
creation,  and  from  those,  too,  with  which  we  are  most  familiar 
in  a  state  of  domestication;  namely,  the  sheep,  the  ox,  the 
horse,  and  the  dog. 

First,  as  regards  the  detrimental  effects  to  maternity  of  fine 
breeding  upon  sheep. 

Mr.  Alfred  Morrison  tells  me  that  such  is  the  bodily  re- 
cuperative degeneracy  prodiiced  in  pedigree  sheep  by  high 
breeding,  that  his  celebrated  flock  of  Southdowns  cannot  be  left 
to  lamb  by  themselves.  Having  not  only  to  be  carefully  kept 
in  a  covered  fold  during  the  lambing  season,  but  in  many,  nay, 
even  in  most  instances,  the  ewes  have  to  be  artificially  assisted 
by  the  shepherds  while  in  the  act  of  dropping  their  lambs. 

While  as  regards  pedigree  oxen,  Mr.  Morrison  further  in- 
forms me,  that  in  many  cases  high  bred  shorthorns  have  their 
animal  powers  so  deteriorated,  through  the  influence  of  fine 
rearing,  that  most  of  the  cows  among  them  fail  to  yield  sufficient 
milk  for  the  wants  of  their  offspring. 

Next  with  reference  to  horses.  It  is  well  known  to  veterinary 
surgeons  that  a  sturdy  mountain  pony  will  not  only  tolerate, 
but  rapidly  recover  from  an  operation  which  would  produce  a 
great  shock  to  the  system,  and  might  probably  even  prove  fatal 
if  performed  on  a  high  class  thoroughbred  race  horse. 

Lastly,  my  own  experience  with  dogs  has  taught  me  that  the 
delicately  reared  Italian  greyhound  will  succumb  to  an  opera- 
tion which  a  roughly  brought  up  mongrel  cur  may  feel  so  little 
the  effects  of,  that  immediately  after  it,  he  will  partake  of  food, 
and  then  quietly  coil  himself  up  and  go  to  sleep  in  front  of  the 
fire,  as  complacently  as  if  nothing  had  been  done  to  him. 

I  might  go  on  multiplying  corroborative  examples,  did  I  not 
imagine  that  those  already  cited  are  both  numerous  enough  and 
conclusive  enough  to  form  a  substantial  basis  to  the  somewhat 
paradoxical-like  sounding  proposition  I  set  out  with,  namely, 
that  in  spite  of  civilising  influences  being  potent  agents  in 
improving  man's  physical  as  well  as  mental  powers,  increasing 
alike  his  stature  and  his  strength,  as  well  as  extending  his 

VOL.  XVII.  I 


114  Discussion. 

length  of  days — they  are,  like  the  rose,  associated  with  a  prickly 
thorn,  inasmuch  as  pari  passit  with  the  ameloriation  of  his 
mental  and  physical  condition,  they  materially  diminish,  instead 
of  augment,  his  bodily  recuperative  powers. 

DISCUSSION. 

The  PRESIDENT  mentioned  some  facts  published  in  his  own  book 
of  travels,  showing  the  extraordinary  power  of  South  African 
natives  to  endure  severe  injury.  He  mentioned  the  great  difference 
well  known  to  sportsmen,  between  the  powers  of  various  species  of 
animals  to  survive  wounds;  thus,  a  heron  would  collapse  on 
receiving  a  few  pellets  of  shot  fired  from  a  gun  at  a  long  range, 
but  a  hawk  was  killed  with  difficulty.  It  would  be  a  matter  of 
interest  to  learn  if  there  were  any  connection  between  recuperative 
power  in  respect  to  wounds,  and  general  longevity.  The  author's 
remark  that  animals  of  a  high  "  breed "  had  small  recuperative 
power,  seemed  to  require  a  little  further  analysis  owing  to  the 
double  sense  in  which  the  word  "  breed  "  was  commonly  used. 
That  in  which  it  was  employed  by  the  author  seemed  chiefly  to 
regard  their  more  delicate  nurture.  But.  etymologically  it  was  more 
properly  applied  to  descent,  and  here  the  loss  of  recuperative  power 
was  in  a  general  way  intelligible,  because  any  variety  of  animal 
that  had  been  long  bred  from  selected  specimens  with  a  view 
to  develop  some  particular  quality,  might  be  expected  to  be  rather 
deficient  in  others,  and,  therefore,  to  have  on  the  whole  a  weaker 
constitution  than  that  of  the  parent  stock. 

The  AUTHOR,  in  reply  to  the  questions  put  to  him  by  the  President, 
remarked  that  the  different  bodily  recuperative  powers  possessed  by 
such  birds  as  the  heron  and  the  hawk,  were,  he  thought,  readily 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  of  different  species  of  animals  possessing 
marked  differences  of  constitutional  vitality.  It  was  not  so  easy, 
however,  either  to  give  a  reason  for  the  relative  differences  in  the 
bodily  recuperative  powers  of  different  members  of  the  same 
species  or  of  the  relative  different  recuperative  bodily  capacity  of 
the  same  individual  under  different  circumstances.  Some  of  the 
channels  by  which  civilising  influences  act  on  the  animal  constitu- 
tion are  tolerably  apparent,  while  others  are  exceedingly  obscure. 
To  him  it  appeared  that  the  superior  recuperative  bodily  powers  of 
savages,  and  of  men,  not  savages,  living  in  any  rude  state,  in  com- 
parison to  highly  civilised  men,  were  not  due  to  any  gain  in  the  ca.se 
of  the  former,  but  to  an  actual  loss  of  the  aboriginal  recuperative 
power  of  the  human  species  in  the  latter.  Man,  he  thought,  was 
naturally  born  to  endure  hardships,  and  it  was  only  on  account  of 
the  cultivation  of  an  artificial  refined  state  of  existence  that  he  was 
led  to  regard  many  natural  conditions  of  existence  as  hardships  at 
all.  For  instance,  while  crossing  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  Idaho,  in 
1884,  he  and  his  party  came,  one  morning,  upon  four  "  Flathead  " 
Indians  sleeping  on  the  hard  rough  stones  by  the  margin  of  a 


Discussion*  115- 

river.  It  having  been  a  cold  frosty  night,  they  had  Iain  down  side 
by  side  and  placed  their  blankets  one  on  the  top  of  the  other  over 
them  for  better  protection  from  the  cold,  and  nothing  but  their 
four  black  heads  projected  beyond  the  covering.  To  all  appear- 
ances these  men  were  sleeping  as  comfortably  on  the  rough  stones 
as  we  would  do  in  a  feather  bed.  Probably,  indeed,  if  accidentally 
transferred  to  a  feather  bed  these  Indians  would  have  felt  less  com- 
fortable. For,  by  a  wise  dispensation  of  Providence,  comforts 
which  one  has  never  enjoyed  one  never  feels  the  disadvantage  of 
being  without.  What  is  even  more  fortunate,  is  that  such  is  the 
peculiar  constitution  of  man  that  he  can  adapt  himself,  and  get 
accustomed  to  almost  any  form  of  hardship.  Thus,  to  his  per- 
sonal knowledge,  the  late  Mr.  Charles  Waterton,  the  South 
American  traveller,  of  "the  Wanderings"  reputation,  habituated 
himself  to  sleep  for  25  years  of  his  life  on  the  hard,  bare  boards 
of  the  floor,  with  a  block  of  wood  for  a  pillow,  and  a  cocoanut  mat 
for  a  coverlet.  This  is  surely  a  more  astounding  feat  than  that  of 
the  American  savages,  who  never  knew  anything  better,  sleeping 
on  hard  stone  boulders ;  seeing  that  it  was  not  until  after  Mr. 
Waterton  had  reached  manhood's  estate,  and  after  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  all  the  luxuries  of  an  English  country  gentleman's 
life  that  he  voluntarily  adopted  the  above  mentioned  rude  mode  of 
taking  his  nightly  rest. 

Hardships,  he  believes,  have  the  effect  of  retaining  to  savages, 
as  well  as  civilised  men  living  in  a  rude  state,  by  strengthening 
the  constitution,  the  aboriginal  recuperative  bodily  capacity  of  the 
human  race ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  warm  clothing  and  com- 
fortable housing,  rich  feeding  and  late  hours,  heated  rooms  and 
polluted  atmospheres,  more  especially  when  associated  with  little 
muscular  out-door  exercise,  have  the  direct  effect  of  enervating  the 
human  frame  and  reducing  its  bodily  recuperative  capacity  to  far 
below  the  normal  standard. 

The  agent  which  most  of  all  lowers  human  bodily  recuperative 
capacity  is,  in  Dr.  George  Harley's  opinion,  alcohol.  Medical  men 
have  been  long  cognisant  of  the  fact  that  men  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  imbibing  alcoholic  stimulants,  either  in  the  form  of  wine, 
beer,  or  spirits,  even  though  not  drunkards,  are  much  less  able  to 
withstand  the  lethal  effects  of  bodily  injuries  than  those  who 
never  drink  them ;  while  the  recuperative  powers  of  those  who 
indulge  in  stimulants  in  excess  are  well-known  to  be  reduced 
to  a  minimum.  It  is  a  well  recognised  fact  for  example,  that  no 
patient  that  enters  the  surgical  wards  of  a  hospital  with  a  severe 
injury  has  less  chance  of  recovery  than  the  big,  powerfully  built, 
muscularly  strong  brewer's  dray-man.  Not  only  does  he  recover 
from  wounds  badly,  but  he  attracts  erysipelas  readily,  and  spreads 
infection  rapidly.- 

The  effects  of  living  in  impure  air  is  again  well  exemplified  in 
the  case  of  the  young  Resident  Medical  Officers  in  hospitals,  one 
and  all  of  whom,  more  especially  it"  their  animal  vitality  is  still 
further  lowered  by  over  study,  have  their  recuperative  bodily 

I  2 


116  Discussion. 

capacity  sometimes  deteriorated  to  such  a  degree,  that  if  they  get 
a  flesh  wound,  it  is  almost  certain  to  become  a  suppurating  sore, 
and  so  bad  an  one  too,  that  notwithstanding  the  application  of  ull  the 
most  powerful  therapeutic  agents  in  the  pharmacopoeia,  it  will  some- 
times resist  healing  so  long  as  he  lives  under  the  hospital  roof ; 
whereas  it  heals  rapidly,  without  assistance  from  either  balm  or 
lotion,  so  soon  as  he  transports  himself  into  the  pure,  strong,  fresh 
air,  either  of  the  seaside  or  mountain  top. 

In  this  we  see  that  a  mere  change  in  physical  conditions  creates 
a  change  in  bodily  recuperative  capacity.  But  the  most  remarkable 
fact  of  all  is,  that  highly  civilised  man  has  it  in  his  own  power, 
not  only  to  bring  his  recuperative  bodily  capacity  up  to  but  even 
far  beyond  that  of  the  standard  of  either  the  savage,  or  of  the 
civilised  typical  man  living  in  a  rude  state.  This  he  rendered 
apparent  by  calling  attention  to  the  marvellously  high  bodily 
recuperative  capacity  encountered  in  cases  of  civilised  athletes 
after"  a  course  of  training  ;"  the  salutory  regimen  of  the  training 
process  having  the  effect  of  bringing  them  up  to  the  highest  state 
of  physical  perfection  a  human  being  can  attain  to. 

This  can  be  most  readily  illustrated  by  referring  to  the  artificial 
changes  brought  about  in  the  human  constitution,  as  witnessed 
in  the  case  of  prize  fighters.  And  it  will  be  best  exemplified 
by  a  brief  narrative  of  what  Dr.  Collins  told  him  regarding 
what  he  observed  in  the  case  of  the  American  pugilist,  Heenan, 
who  fought  with  the  British  "  champion  of  the  ring,"  Tom 
Sayers.  The  fight,  as  some  may  have  heard,  was  a  desperate 
one,  and  in  the  evening  after  it,  on  Dr.  Collins  visiting  Heenan,  he 
found  him  so  disfigured  about  the  face  as  to  be  scarcely  recog- 
nisable as  a  human  being.  His  eyes  were  totally  invisible,  his 
brow,  cheeks,  and  lips  swollen,  bloated,  and  black.  Not  a  vestige 
of  a  human  feature  remained.  Yet,  what  happened  ?  So  high 
had  the  vital  recuperative  capacity  of  this  man  been  raised  by 
diet  and  exercise,  that  within  four  days  all  the  swelling  had  com- 
pletely subsided.  And  ere  other  four  days  had  passed  away  the 
whole  of  the  effused  blood  had  been  absorbed.  Every  trace  of  the 
ecchymosis  had  vanished,  and  the  man's  features  were  com- 
pletely restored.  It  is  impossible  for  any  one,  possessed  with 
medical  knowledge,  for  a  moment  to  doubt  that  these  startling 
results  could  have  been  due  to  anything  else  than  a  super-recupera- 
tive bodily  vitality  engendered  by  the  hardening  of  the  general 
system  by  training. 

Having  said  this  much  it  will  not  do  to  leave  the  subject 
without  adding  a  short  addendum  on  the  probable  causes  of  the 
loss  of  recuperative  healing  power  on  child-bearing  women  living 
in  a  highly  civilised  state. 

All  know  that  exercise  increases  the  size  of  human  muscles,  and 
that  an  increase  in  the  work  done  by  the  muscles  entails  an 
increase  in  the  size  of  the  bones  to  which  they  are  attached.  It 
may  be  equally  accepted  as  a  physiological  doctrine  that  a  disuse 
in  the  muscular  apparatus  of  the  human  frame  entails  a  diminution 


Discussion.  117 

not  alone  in  the  muscles  themselves,  bat  also  in  the  bones  to 
which  they  are  attached,  and  which  they  consequently  employ  as 
fulcra  during  their  action.  Hence  it  is  readily  seen  why,  not  only 
all  the  muscles  of  the  body  and  the  bones  of  the  pelvis  as  well  as 
the  bones  of  the  hands  and  feet  in  delicately  reared  women,  are- 
smaller  then  in  those  accustomed  to  manual  labour.  Now  in 
addition  to  this  small  ing  of  the  muscles  as  well  as  of  the  bony  out- 
let of  the  pelvis  tending  to  impede  natural  labour,  there  exists  yet 
a  further  increase  to  the  difficulty  of  parturition  in  the  refined 
woman,  from  the  fact  that  her  own  augmented  education  induces  a 
pari  passu  increase  of  cerebral  development  (by  reason  of  here- 
ditary transmission)  and  consequent  increase  in  the  circumference 
of  the  head  of  her  offspring.  So  that  there  is  thus  a  double  reason 
why  refined  and  highly  civilised  women  should  have  more  difficult 
labours,  and  less  bodily  recuperative  capacity  after  them,  either 
than  savage  women,  or  their  less  favoured  civilised  sisters,  living 
in  a  rude,  uneducated  state. 

Moreover,  the  changes  in  the  frame  of  a  highly  educated  woman 
and  her  offspring,  brought  about  by  the  refining  influences  of  a  high 
civilisation,  become  more  and  more  marked  through  generations  of 
hereditary  transmission.  Just  as  the  rats  in  the  Mammoth  Cave, 
and  the  fish  in  the  Adelsberg  grotto,  have  become  blind,  by  genera- 
tions upon  generations  of  their  ancestors  having  never  had  occasion 
in  their  dark  underground  dwellings  to  use  their  organs  of  vision, 
so  in  like  manner,  the  bones,  as  well  as  the  muscles  of  men  and 
women,  from  a  partial  disuse  of  them  in  several  generations  of 
their  ancestors,  became  smaller.  The  diminution  in  the  size  of  the 
bones  and  muscles  of  the  hands  and  feet,  engendered  by  an  absence 
from  hard  labour  through  several  generations  is,  in  fact,  so 
apparent  that  it  has  given  origin  to  the  proverb  that— 

"  In  little  hands  and  feet  we  trace 
The  scions  of  the  higher  race," 

"What  holds  good  for  the  muscles  and  bones  of  the  frame  holds 
equally  good  for  the  brain  and  the  internal  organs  of  the  body.  So 
that  just  as  the  features  of  the  face  are  transmitted  from  parent  to 
child  the  mental  qualities  and  internal  (invisible)  organisation  is 
as  well.  Hence  we  find  that  "  constitution  "  is  handed  down  from 
sire  to  scion,  be  it  bad  or  be  it  good,  just  as  physiognomy  is.  One 
is  not  surprised  then  at  hearing  that  the  naked  Terra  del  Fuegian 
woman  transmits  to  her  babe  her  own  power  of  enduring  with 
immunity  an  exceedingly  low  temperature.  To  such  a  high  degree 
too  is  this  the  case  that  her  naked  infant,  but  a  month  or  two  old, 
will  lie  unconcernedly  smiling  and  crowing  at  the  bottom  of  its 
mother's  fishing  canoe,  while  cold  snow  flakes  are  falling  upon,  and 
melting  from  off,  its  bare  skin.  A  counterpart  to  this  fact  is 
related  at  p.  224  of  Mr.  Seton  Karr's  "  Shores  of  Alaska,"  where 
he  gives  a  sketch  of  a  little  child  of  the  Oodiak  tribe  of  Indians, 
who,  clad  in  nothing  but  a  short  cotton  shirt,  with  bare  feet,  legs, 


118       G.  L.  GOMME. — On  the  Evidence  for  Mr.  McLennan 's 

and  head,  walked  across  the  Nuchuk  mountain  pass  mid  snow  and 
ice  with  perfect  impunity. 

These  two  cases  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  truly  typical  speci- 
mens of  transmitted  hereditary  bodily  capacity  to  endure  hard- 
ships. For  here  we  have  the  children  of  two  entirely  different 
races  of  men — one  in  the  north  of  North  America,  the  other  at  the 
extreme  south  of  South  America — enduring  with  impunity  a 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere  so  low,  that  if  the  children,  simi- 
larly aged,  of  a  highly  civilised  European  were  subjected  to  it, 
they  would  inevitably  shiver,  freeze,  and  die  in  the  space  of  an 
hour  or  two. 

These  cases,  Dr.  George  Harley  thought,  afforded  additional 
evidence  that  a  high  standard  of  bodily  recuperative  power  is 
naturally  inherent  in  the  human  race,  while  the  formerly  cited 
examples  of  an  opposite  character,  go  far  to  show  that  the  refining 
influences  of  civilisation  have  in  reality  not  proved  such  an  un- 
alloyed boon  to  mankind  as  is  usually  imagined,  and  that  all  the 
present  races  of  men,  though  they  may  be  of  the  same  flesh  and 
blood,  are  not  endowed  with  the  same  degree  of  bodily  sensibility 
and  recuperative  vitality,  and  while  they  may  be  further  said  to 
account  for  the  well  known  fact  that  the  present  race  of  delicately 
nurtured  women  are  the  victims  of  migraines,  and  neuralgias,  which 
were  as  much  unknown,  even  byname,  to  their  great  grandmothers, 
as  they  are  to  the  present  races  of  out-door  labourers  and  unedu- 
cated savages. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  Author : — 

On  the  EVIDENCE  for  MR.  MCLENNAN'S  THEORY  of  the 
PRIMITIVE  HUMAN  HORDE. 

By  G.  L.  GOMME,  Esq. 

WHEN  we  come  to  look  into  Mr.  McLennan's  evidence,  and  to 
examine  his  theory  on  the  origin  and  development  of  social 
forms,  we  are  struck  by  the  fact  that  he  nowhere  states  the 
evidence  for  his  first  stage— the  primitive  human  horde.  He 
starts  "  from  the  conception  of  populations,  the  units  of  which 
were  homogeneous  groups  or  tribes,"  and  which  did  not  possess 
any  system  of  blood  kinship1 ;  but  beyond  the  fact  that  the 
assumption  thus  made  fits  in  remarkably  well  with  all  the  later 
stages  of  his  theory,  which  are  amply  supported  by  evidence,  he 
does  not  critically  examine  the  evidence  for  the  primitive  horde. 
Even  the  title — the  horde — which  I  have  ventured  to  assume  is 

Studies  in  Ancient  History,"  pp.  127,  153. 


Theory  of  the  Primitive  Human  Horde.  119 

that  which  best  expresses  Mr.  McLennan's  meaning,  is  only 
used  by  Mr.  McLennan  himself  incidentally ;  and  occasionally, 
as  in  the  quotation  just  used,  it  gives  way  to  the  less  exact 
terminology  of  "  populations,"  "  groups,"  or  "  tribes." 

It  is  singular  that  not  only  Mr.  McLennan  himself,  but  none 
of  his  able  critics  has  definitely  met  the  proposition  which  the 
theory  of  the  primitive  human  horde  clearly  places  before  us. 
It  is  just  possible  that  when  Sir  Henry  Maine  appeals  so 
forcibly  to  biology  and  to  savage  society  for  examples  of  his 
own  theory  of  parental  groups  against  Mr.  McLennan's  theory 
of  the  horde,  he  may  have  in  his  mind  exactly  that  large  body 
of  evidence  which  Mr.  McLennan  has  left  untouched.  But  then 
Sir  Henry  Maine  does  not  proceed  to  examine  this  evidence.1 
Nor  does  Mr.  Lang,  the  greatest  living  authority  who  supports 
Mr.  McLennan's  theories.2  In  fact,  almost  all  the  enquiries 
which  have  taken  place  since  Mr.  McLennan's  researches 
directly  opposed  those  of  Sir  Henry  Maine,  have  been  bounded 
and  limited  by  the  theory  that  the  earliest  social  unit  was 
necessarily  the  family.3  The  family  appears  in  history,  in  its 
most  archaic  form,  as  the  unit  of  the  geuealogic  tribe.  But  the 
tribe,  made  up  of  these  family  units,  is  just  then  entering  upon 
its  career  in  the  formation  of  nations — is,  in  fact,  just  on  the 
threshold  of  modern  history.  And  at  the  back  of  this  union  of 
families  is  that  large  body  of  custom,  whatever  it  may  prove  to 
be,  from  which  kinship-formed  tribes  were  developed.  Under 
whatever  form  of  society  this  body  of  custom  existed,  there  is  no 
part  of  it  which  entitles  us  to  use  such  a  term  as  "  family  "  in 
connection  with  it.  It  was  not  a  family  unit  in  independence ; 
it  was  not  a  group  of  family  units  bound  by  kinship  ties.  If, 
therefore,  we  may  properly  dismiss  the  term  family  as  a 
scientific  appellation  for  the  earliest  group  of  human  beings, 
and  if  we  may  consistently  call  it  the  horde,  borrowing  the 
term  from  Mr.  McLennan,  we  shall,  at  least,  be  clearing  the 
way  to  prevent  a  misconception  from  a  confusion  in  terminology. 
It  may  be  as  time  goes  on,  and,  as  evidence  increases,  that  some 
modifications  in  the  conception  of  the  horde  will  arise ;  but  the 
point  to  be  insisted  upon  now  is  that  the  term  horde  does  not 
convey  any  special  associations  with  modern  history,  and  that  it 
most  probably  will,  therefore,  gradually  assume  the  meaning 
with  which  scientific  research  will  in  future  endow  it. 

Mr.   McLennan's  conclusions,  derived,  be  it  observed,  from 

1  See  "  Early  Law  and  Custom,"  p.  192. 

2  "  Early  History  of  the  Family,"  in  his.  "  Custom  and  Myth." 

3  See  Mr.  C.  8.  Wake's  article  on  "  The  Primitive  Human  Family,"  in  the 
"  Journ.   Anthrop.   Inst.,"  vol.  ix  ;  and  Mr.  Lang  concedes  this  point  to  Sir 
Henry  Maine,  in  his  "  Custom  and  Myth." 


120       G.  L.  GOMME. — On  the  Evidence  for  Mr.  McLennan's 

phenomena  found  to  exist  in  savage  races  inhabiting  all  parts  of 
the  world,  may  be  shortly  stated  as  follows  : — 

1.  That  the  earliest  human  mode  of  living  recognised  no 

basis  of  blood  relationship,  the  association  between  the 
sexes  being  best  described  by  the  term  promiscuity, 
and  the  children  at  this  stage  belonging  to  the  horde. 

2.  That  there  existed  within  the  horde  the  conception  of 

stocks,  such  stocks  being  found  to  be  always  exogamous, 
i.e.,  the  members  of  any  stock  may  not  marry  within 
their  own  stock,  but  must  obtain  wives,  or  husbands, 
from  other  stocks. 

3.  That  the  scarcity  of  women  produced  a  rude  system  of 

polyandry,  i.e.,  one  wife  between  several  husbands. 

4.  That   blood  relationship    to  the  mother  first   became 

recognised,  and  hence  arose  a  system  of  kinship 
through  females  only. 

5.  That  the  constant  state  of  war  between  group  and  group 

necessitated  the  capture  of  wives  from  foreign  groups. 

6.  That  in  course  of  time  this  system  of  kinship  through 

females  and  exogamous  marriages  would  produce 
heterogeneous  groups,  each  group  containing  within 
itself  members  of  several  other  groups  (the  children  of 
the  women  of  such  other  groups). 

7.  That  these  heterogeneous  groups  would  therefore  contain 

within  themselves  all  the  conditions  cf  exogamous 
marriages,  and  that  hence  members  of  the  same  local 
group,  being  of  different  kinship,  could  marry. 

8.  That  from  these  conditions  of  early  society  would  arise  a 

recognition  of  paternity,  and  hence  a  system  of  kin- 
ship through  males  as  well  as  females. 

Now  it  is  clear  that  to  make  the  various  stages  of  this  theory 
perfectly  consistent  one  with  another,  we  ought  to  know  some- 
thing about  the  conditions  which  formed  the  human  horde  from 
which  was  developed  all  the  subsequent  phenomena  of  early 
human  society.  Mr.  McLennan  has  arrived  at  his  first  stage  by 
the  exhaustive  examination  of  the  evidence  which  proves  his 
later  stages,  and  he  practically  postulates  that  granting  his 
general  conclusions  the  human  horde  must  have  been  the 
earliest  stage  of  man's  existence.  To  Mr.  McLennan  himself  we 
may  perhaps  be  inclined  to  admit  his  full  right  to  |o  deal  with 
the  subject;  but  it  is,  at  all  events,  a  matter  which  deserves 
some  degree  of  independent  treatment,  and  it  is  in  this  light 
that  I  propose  to  deal  with  it.  My  question  is,  Is  there  any 
evidence,  other  than  that  based  upon  simple  argument,  of  the 
earliest  stage  of  human  society,  the  primitive  horde  ? 


Theory  of  the  Primitive  Human  Horde.  121 

In  the  first  place  we  will  turn  to  the  biological  evidence.  At 
the  outset  it  is  important  to  note  that  the  great  authority  of 
Mr.  Darwin  cannot  be  claimed  so  completely  on  the  side  of  the 
origin  of  society  in  the  parental  group  as  Sir  Henry  Maine 
would  seem  to  imply.  He  quotes  from  Mr.  Darwin  ("  Descent 
of  Man,"  I,  362),  a  passage  from  which  I  will  only  re-quote  one 
sentence,  "in  primeval  times  men  ....  would  probably  have 
lived  as  polygamists  or  temporarily  as  monogamists."  But  Mr. 
Darwin  has  another  passage  ("  Descent  of  Man,"  I,  84)  which 
directly  opposes  the  theory  of  original  parental  groups.  "  Some 
authors,"  he  says,  "  suppose  that  man  prinievally  lived  in  single 
families  ;  but  at  the  present  day  though  single  families,  or  only 
two  or  three  together,  roam  the  solitude  of  some  savage  lands, 
they  are  always,  as  far  as  I  can  discover,  friendly  with  other 
families  inhabiting  the  same  district."  It  is  this  complex  group 
then,  from  which  the  history  of  man  has  to  start.  But  there 
are  other  points  insisted  upon  by  Sir  Henry  Maine,  and  these 
are,  rightly  enough,  those  where  Darwin,  summarising  his 
evidence  as  to  man's  primeval  condition,  asserts  that  "  their 
intercourse,  judging  from  analogy,  would  not  then  have  been 
promiscuous,"  and  they  "would  not  at  that  period  have  partially 
lost  one  of  the  strongest  of  all  instincts  common  to  all  the  lower 
animals,  namely,  the  love  of  their  young  offspring  "  (II,  367). 
These  results  from  the  biological  evidence  are  brought  to  bear 
against  Air.  McLennan's  conception  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
horde,  and  they  must  form  the  starting  point  for  our  researches. 

Mr.  McLennan  has  used  certain  expressions  in  his  description 
of  the  condition  of  early  man  which  have  proved  to  be  not  only 
the  centre  point  of  attack  by  those  who  oppose  his  general 
theory,  but  which  have  entirely  diverted  attention  from  much 
more  important  conclusions  resulting  from  the  theory.  The 
chief  of  these  expressions  is  that  of  "  utter  promiscuity  "  as  a 
description  of  the  marital  conditions  of  early  man.  Now  of 
"  utter  promiscuity "  there  is  no  evidence  from  the  types  of 
savage  society  now  extant.  The  nearest  we  get  to  it  is 
"  temporary  monandry,"  as  Mr.  Darwin  terms  it,  which  consists 
of  the  choice  by  a  woman  of  a  husband,  who  is  husband  just  so 
long  as  offspring  is  begotten,  and  requires  protection.  That  the 
period  during  which  man,  woman,  and  child  kept  together  was 
in  the  earliest  natural  development  of  human  life  of  much 
longer  duration  than  modern  civilisation  allows  to  be  necessary 
is  asserted  by  Mr.  Fiske  and  allowed  by  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer.1 
"  Children  not  so  soon  capable  of  providing  for  themselves  had 
to  be  longer  nurtured  by  female  parents,  to  some  extent  aided 

1  "  Principles  of  Sociology,"  i,  pp.  56,  630. 


122      G.  L.  GOMME. — On  the  Evidence  for  Mr.  McLennan 's 

by  male  parents."  But  as  soon  as  offspring  were  capable  of 
taking  care  of  themselves  the  parental  tie  was  snapped.  The 
children  would  certainly  go  their  own  ways — the  male  to 
become  in  his  turn  a  hunter  and  fisher,  more  or  less  connected 
with  his  fellow  man,  the  female  to  become  the  partner  of  her 
accepted  lover.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  parental  affection 
extending  beyond  the  period  when  such  steps  were  taken, 
and  the  evidence  of  later  marital  relationships  makes  it 
impossible  to  conceive  that  the  union  of  the  parents  would 
continue.1 

But  just  as  there  is  no  excuse  for  calling  this  system  of 
temporary  monandry  by  such  a  historical  term  as  family,  so 
there  is  no  excuse  for  using  the  term  "  utter  promiscuity." 
There  is  no  reason  again  to  suppose  that  "  paternity  "  was  un- 
certain and,  was,  therefore,  incapable  of  being  recognised.  Both 
paternity  and  maternity  were  certain,  and  they  were  fully 
recognised.  Where  the  break  occurs  between  this  primordial 
system  and  the  later  system  is  that  the  recognition  was  simply 
one  caused  by  natural  instincts,  and  that  it  was  temporary  in 
its  duration  and  quickly  became  lost.  In  short,  the  relationship 
between  the  sexes  was  a  natural  and  not  a  political  relationship. 
Because  primordial  men  did  not,  throughout  life,  recognise  a 
bond  of  affection  for  offspring,  and  did  not  use  the  potent  fact 
of  kinship  to  constitute  a  social  unit,  it  does  not  follow  that 
they  did  not  know  of  the  paternal  and  maternal  instincts,  were 
not  influenced  by  sexual  jealousy,  and  did  not  know  of  the 
connection  between  parent  and  child.  All  that  can  be  said  of 
them  is  that  they  did  not  use  these  several  natural  facts  to 
produce  artificial,  or,  as  it  is  best  to  say,  political  combinations. 
Biology  therefore  teaches  us  this  :  that  our  primordial  ancestors 
roamed  the  earth,  possessing  all  the  natural  instincts,  but 
without  the  capacity  of  using  these  instincts  for  any  political 
purpose.  There  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  absolute  non- 
recognition  of  the  ties  of  parental  kinship,  and  the  non-use  of 
them  for  the  purpose  of  generating  a  new  departure  in  the  ways 
of  man,  and  in  this  difference  will  be  found  all  that  is  to  be  said 
against  Mr.  McLenuan's  terminology.  If  we  can  only  thoroughly 
grasp  the  fact  that  the  ties  of  kinship,  whether  male  or  female, 
are  in  every  sense  artificial  conceptions,  and  that  consequently 
their  introduction  must  have  been  preceded  by  a  long  period  of 
natural  combinations  of  human  beings,  we  gain  the  first 
important  step  in  the  history  of  the  primitive  human  horde.2 

1  Many  examples  exist  in  savage  society  where  the  parents  separate  after  the 
birth  of  a  child. 

2  Mr.  McLennan  says  "  the  development  of  the  idea  of  blood  relationship  into 
a  system  of  kinship  must  have  been  a  work  of  time." — "  Studies  in  Ancient 
History,"  p.  84. 


Theory  of  the  Primitive  Human  Horde.  123 

Before  the  ties  of  kinship  could  have  formed  societies,  children 
must  have  habitually  stopped  with  parents,  grandchildren  with 
grandparents,  cousins  with  their  kindred.  How  recent  in  the 
history  of  man  such  artificial  associations  were  made  cannot,  of 
course,  be  ascertained,  but  I  shall  have  something  to  say  upon 
this  point  later  on.  In  the  meantime,  the  fact  to  notice  is  that 
the  primitive  human  horde  was  kept  together  by  quite  other 
influences  than  kinship,  and  our  next  step  must  be  to  enquire 
what  these  influences  were. 

Mr.  McLennan  has  only  hit  upon  a  portion  of  the  true 
solution.  In  a  passage  which  contains  a  curious  mixture 
of  terminology,  but  which  evidently  refers  to  "the  earliest 
human  groups  [which]  can  have  had  no  idea  of  kinship,"  he 
observes  that  the  "  fellowship  between  the  members  of  such  a 
group  would  be  that  they  and  theirs  had  always  been  com- 
panions in  war  or  the  chase — joint-tenants  of  the  same  cave  or 
grove."1  Companionship  in  danger,  and  food-winning,  and 
contiguity  of  occupation  are  here  indicated  as  the  ties  of  associa- 
tion. Mr.  Lang  introduces  us  to  one  other  probable  explanation 
of  the  ties  that  held  the  horde  together.  Noting  that  totemism 
"arose  at  a  period  when  ideas  of  kinship  scarcely  existed  at 
all,"  he  goes  on  to  remark  that  "  above  all  the  very  nature  of 
totemism  shows  that  it  took  its  present  shape  at  a  time  when 
men,  animals,  and  plants  were  conceived  of  as  physically  akin."2 
This  is  a  very  important  factor  in  the  early  life  of  man.  Clearly 
if  the  first-formed  groups  of  man  were  based  upon  a  totem- 
organisation  and  not  a  blood  tie;  if  totemism  includes  a 
common  worship  of  some  object  of  nature  ;  and  if  such  worship 
is  produced  by  an  incapacity  in  man's  early  conceptions  to 
separate  his  own  being  from  animals,  plants,  and  other  nature 
objects  around  him — clearly  we  must  look  for  evidence  as  to  the 
earliest  social  organisation  to  such  of  the  forces  of  nature  as 
might  have  determined  the  range  of  contiguity  of  occupation,  or 
the  means  of  establishing  common  interests. 

Before  adducing  any  evidence  as  to  man's  early  associations 
with  nature,  it  seems  worth  while  to  enquire  whether  in  the 
lower  organisations  there  is  any  evidence  as  to  forces  which 
produce  groups  other  than  those  founded  upon  the  ties  of  blood. 
For  this  purpose  I  will  make  one  quotation  from  Darwin,  which 
exactly  explains  the  initial  facts  which  I  am  anxious  to  accen- 
tuate. Mr.  Darwin  says  "  Most  animals  and  plants  keep  to 
their  proper  homes  and  do  not  needlessly  wander  about.  We 
see  this  with  migratory  birds,  which  almost  always  return  to 
the  same  spot.  Consequently  each  newly  formed  variety  would 

1  "  Studies  in  Ancient  History,"  p.  84. 

2  "  Custom  and  Myth,"  p.  262. 


124      G.  L.  GOMME. —  On  the  Evidence  for  Mr.  McLennan 's 

generally  be  at  first  local,  as  seems  to  be  the  common  rule  with 
varieties  in  a  state  of  nature ;  so  that  similarly  modified  in- 
dividuals would  soon  exist  in  a  small  body  together,  and  would 
often  breed  together.  If  the  new  variety  were  successful  in  its 
battle  for  life  it  would  slowly  spread  from  a  central  district, 
competing  with  and  conquering  the  unchanged  individuals  on 
the  margin  of  an  ever-increasing  circle."1  How  clearly  this 
explanation  meets  the  phenomena  to  be  met  with  in  man's 
earliest  stages  will,  I  think,  be  shown  as  we  proceed. 

It  is  neither  necessary  nor  expedient  to  examine  now  any 
considerable  mass  of  evidence  relative  to  man's  attitude  towards 
the  great  powers  of  nature.  The  subject  has  not  yet  been 
approached  with  due  regard  to  its  importance  as  one  of  the 
determining  features  of  man's  earliest  ways  of  life  ;2  but  there  is 
sufficient  accumulated  evidence  for  us  to  be  able  to  give  some 
typical  instances  of  the  forces  that  kept  the  primitive  human 
hordes  together. 

When  in  the  mid-pleistocene  age  of  geology  we  find  that  man 
has  made  his  way  into  Europe  as  far  west  and  north  as  Britain, 
we  find  him  in  the  presence  of  abundance  of  food,  but  with 
difficulty  guarding  himself  against  the  wild  animals.  In- 
numerable horses,  large  herds  of  stags,  uri,  and  bison  were  to  be 
seen  in  the  open  country ;  three  kinds  of  rhinoceros,  and  two 
kinds  of  elephant  lived  in  the  forest;  the  hippopotamus  haunted 
the  banks  of  the  rivers,  as  well  as  the  beaver,  the  water-rat,  and 
the  otter ;  there  were  wolves  also,  and  foxes,  brown  bears  and 
grizzly  bears,  wild  cats,  and  lions  of  enormous  size  ;  wild  boars 
lived  in  the  thickets ;  and  as  night  came  on  the  hyaenas  assem- 
bled in  packs  to  hunt  down  the  young,  the  wounded,  and  infirm.3 
Not  daring  to  penetrate  into  the  vast  forests  that  stretched 
themselves  around  him,  but  keeping  to  the  river  courses  man 
thus  progressed  from  point  to  point  over  the  earth's  surface, 
absolutely  bound  by  the  conditions  of  his  life  to  subordinate 
himself  to  the  external  forces  which  kept  him  confined  to  very 
restricted  areas  for  his  wanderings.  The  narrowing  down  of  the 
territorial  lines  of  progress  narrowed  down  too  the  forms  of  the 
social  grouping ;  and  an  examination  of  the  geologic  evidence 
confirms  the  view  that  as  there  was  no  necessity  for,  so  there  could 
have  been  no  thought  of,  artificially  formed  societies.  The 
successive  waves  of  migrationists  were  bound  together  by  the 

1  "  Descent  of  Man." 

'  Mr.  Spencer,"  Principles  of  Sociology,"  cap.  iii,  "  Original  External  Factors," 
brings  clearly  together  the  chief  heads  of  this  subject,  and  concludes  (p.  39) 
"  that  the  earlier  stages  of  social  evolution  are  far  more  dependent  on  local  con- 
ditions than  the  later  stages."  But  it  is  singular  how  little  this  important  con- 
clusion is  brought  to  bear  upon  Mr.  Spencer's  subsequent  researches. 

3  Boyd  Dawkins'  "  Early  Man  in  Britain,"  p.  137. 


Theory  of  the  Primitive  Human  Horde.  1 25 

accumulated  and  accumulating  fears  of  the  dangers  that  sur- 
rounded them. 

Such  fears  found  their  ultimate  expression  in  a  system  of 
nature  worship,  which  even  now  forms  a  large  portion  of  the 
creeds  of  savage  people.  The  Aka  of  Assam,  we  are  told  by  Dr. 
Hunter,  "  fears  the  high  mountains  which  tower  aloft  over  his 
dwelling ;  he  fears  the  roaring  torrents  of  the  deep  glen  ;  and  he 
fears  the  dense  and  dark  jungle,  in  which  his  cattle  lose  their 
way ;  these  dark  and  threatening  powers  of  nature  he  invests 
with  supernatural  attributes  ;  they  are  his  gods."1  This  forcible 
example  is  but  an  instance  of  what  is  met  with  all  over  the 
world.  Among  all  the  hill  tribes  of  India  the  mountains  are 
the  abode  of  demons.  Among  the  Khumis,  each  peak  in  the 
native  hills  is  held  to  be  the  watch-tower  of  a  god.2  A  hill  in 
Rambon  Island  is  supposed  to  be  the  abode  of  evil  spirits.3 
Nothing  but  positive  orders  and  accompaniment  by  us  would, 
we  are  told,  induce  the  Mugs  to  trespass  on  many  of  the  hill  tops, 
which  were  inhabited,  they  said,  by  demons.4  The  Nicobar 
islanders  have  a  good  and  evil  spirit,  the  latter  resides  in  the 
woody  interior  of  the  island.5  The  extensive  forests  untrodden 
by  human  foot,  are  believed  by  the  Coorgs  to  be  reserved  for  the 
abodes  of  deified  heroic  ancestors.6  And  so  it  is  all  over  the 
world.7  Hemmed  in  and  confronted  on  all  sides  by  such 
enemies,  the  primitive  human  horde  was  kept  together  by  out- 
side forces,  not  by  internal  arrangements.  As  man  spread  over 
the  earth,  treading  the  river  paths  for  the  first  time,  skirting  the 
fearful  forests,  and  looking  upon  the  distant  hills  with  some- 
thing more  than  awe  and  wonder,  fighting  his  way  before  his 
fellow  animals  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  there  is  ample  room 
for  the  conception  of  a  vast  period  of  time  for  the  existence  of 
the  horde — a  period  which  even  Plato  contemplated  when  he 
measured  the  difference  between  the  social  forms  of  the  Cyclopes 
and  those  of  the  Greeks  of  his  day. 

That  man's  experiences  during  this  long  period  of  time  have 
materially  affected  his  later  life  there  cannot  be  any  doubt. 
Many  conceptions  which  originated  with  the  horde  have  sur- 

1  "  Statistical  Account  of  Assam,"  i,  356. 

2  "  Journal  As.  Soc.  Bengal,"  XT,  63. 

3  Ibid.,  IT,  83. 

4  7&nZ.,x,430. 

8  "  Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst.,"  iii,  4. 

6  Richter's  "Manual  of  Coorg,"  166. 

'•  I  would  refer  particularly  to  Mr.  McLennan's  articles  in  the  "  Fortnightly 
Keview "  vols.  xii  and  xiii,  on  "  Tree  and  Animal  Worship,"  and  to  the 
"  Journal  of  the  Ethnological  Society,"  new  series,  vol.  i,  pp.  23,  est  seq.,  for  a 
summary  of  the  evidence.  Mr.  Walhouse's  "  Bagbushes  and  Kindred  Obser- 
vances," "  Journ.  Anthrop.  lust.,"  vol.  ix,  pp.  97-106,  should  also  be  consulted. 


126     G.  L.  GOMME. — On  the-  Evidence  for  Mr.  McLennan 's 

vived  after  the  formation  of  kindreds.  All  that  large  system 
of  nature  worship,  which  dictated  to  the  primitive  settlers  in 
villages  that  the  clearings  in  the  forest  could  not  be  made  till 
the  tree  deities  had  been  compensated,1  which  taught  that  the 
earth  spirit  must  be  propitiated  at  the  founding  of  a  new  village, 
and  that  the  earth  demons  fought  against  the  growth  of  corn  or 
other  agricultural  produce,2  originated  when  man  had  not  pro- 
gressed beyond  the  stage  of  the  primitive  horde ;  and  only  at 
last  gave  way  when  man's  conception  of  the  bonds  of  kinship 
had  developed  into  a  worship  of  ancestral  spirits.  Again,  it  has 
already  been  observed  that  the  conception  of  totemism  originated 
in  the  horde,  and  yet  lasted  down  very  late  when  tribes  had 
been  formed  upon  the  basis  of  kinship.  The  strength  of  these 
survivals  of  portions  of  the  organisation  of  the  primitive  horde, 
may  well  lead  us  on  to  enquire  whether  there  may  not  be  any 
survivals  of  the  horde  itself,  or  at  all  events  of  groups  of  human 
beings  so  little  advanced  along  the  line  of  development  formed 
by  kinship  as  to  show  us  a  near  type  of  what  the  primitive 
horde  must  have  been. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  district  in  which  man  was  first 
evolved  from  his  ape-like  progenitors  there  is  considerable  evi- 
dence to  prove  that  Central  Asia  is  the  district  from  which  suc- 
cessive migrations  have  flowed.  It  may  be  taken  for  granted, 
I  venture  to  suggest,  that  the  effects  of  migrations  must  have 
been  enormous  in  modifying  the  social  conditions  of  the  primi- 
tive hordes  ;  and  that  hence  the  nearer  the  centre  of  the  original 
home  the  more  likely  are  we  to  meet  with  types  nearer  to 
the  original  condition.  But  whether  it  be  admissible  or  not 
to  advance  these  arguments  drawn  from  the  natural  history  of 
man  as  in  any  way  accountable  for  facts  in  his  social  history,  it 
is  certainly  not  unimportant  to  note  that  the  regions  of  Central 
Asia  do  supply  us  with  types  of  human  hordes  the  most  nearly 
coincident  to  what  Mr.  McLennan  has  prepared  us  to  expect 
from  the  evidence  he  has  adduced  as  to  the  origin  of  the  later 
forms  of  society  based  upon  kinship.  Leaving  for  other  con- 
sideration such  types  of  roaming  groups,  not  to  be  identified  with 
kinship-formed  groups,  as  may  be  found  in  the  Wood  Veddahs, 
who  roam  about  in  pairs ;  the  Bushmen,  who  wander  in  small 
isolated  families ;  the  Fuegians  in  clusters  of  a  dozen  or  so,3  we 
will,  as  a  working  hypothesis,  confine  our  immediate  attention  to 
the  Central  Asian  evidence. 

1  See   a  conspicuous   example   of  the  superstitions  of   the   woodcutters   in 
Hunter's  "  Statistical  Account  of  Bengal,"  i,  312. 

2  I  have  collected  some  examples  of  this  in  my  "  Folklore  Belies  of  Early 
Village  Life,"  cap.  vi. 

3  Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology,"  i  482. 


Tlieory  of  the  Primitive  Human  Horde.  127 

The  hill  tribes  of  India  afford  the  most  singular  specimen 
of  the  primitive  horde,  both  in  respect  of  the  external  forces 
which  keep  it  together,  and  of  the  internal  organisation  which 
regulates  the  conduct  of  individuals  to  one  another.  This 
specimen  is  the  Abor  tribe  of  the  Assam  Hills.  Of  the  external 
forces  which  alone  form  the  means  of  keeping  the  horde  to- 
gether we  have  the  following  evidence :  The  religion  of  the 
Abors  consists  of  a  belief  in  those  sylvan  deities  to  each  of 
whom  some  particular  department  in  the  destiny  of  man  is 
assigned.  A  mountain  called  Rigam  is  the  favourite  abode  of 
the  spirits  and  is  held  in  great  awe,  no  one  being  able  to  return 
from  its  summit.  Losses  of  children  are  attributed  to  the  spirits 
of  the  woods,  and  retaliation  is  made  by  cutting  down  trees  till 
the  loss  is  made  good.1  Clearly  with  such  beliefs  in  the  sur- 
rounding nature  gods  there  is  little  room,  as  there  is  scarcely 
any  need,  for  the  development  of  a  social  system  based  upon 
any  other  observable  phenomena  than  the  greatest  one  of  all, 
namely,  locality.  Pressed  on  all  sides  by  the  fear  of  mountain 
deities  and  tree  deities  the  outcoming  life  from  such  a  set  of 
conditions  must  depend  almost  entirely  upon  local  not  personal 
influences.  And  such  we  find  to  be  actually  the  case. 

It  is  a  pity  that  minute  examination  of  the  social  system  of 
the  Abors  has  not  been  made.  One  thing  it  is  very  important 
to  obtain  information  about,  namely,  the  existence  of  totemism. 
If  the  Abors  are  a  typical  example  of  the  primitive  horde  they 
would  be  constituted  upon  a  totem  system,  or  would  have  the 
germs  of  the  totem  system  within  their  group.  Their  worship 
of  nature  and  their  special  worship  of  tree  deities  would  lead  us 
to  expect  some  traces  of  totemism.  But  no  traveller  amongst 
them  has  recorded  any  such  traces.  It  is,  however,  important 
to  note  than  Mr.  McLennan  has  found  sufficient  general  evidence 
to  be  able  to  state  that  "  the  totem  stage  appears  to  have  been 
passed  through  by  numerous  tribes  of  Central  Asia  ";2  and  one 
of  these  tribes  I  have  been  able  to  discover  is  a  near  neighbour 
to  the  Abors.  Of  the  Khasias,  Dr.  Hunter  says  "  there  is  no 
caste  system,  but  each  clan  is  called  after  some  object  of  nature, 
as  the  oak  clan,  the  crab  clan,  &c.,  and  these  names  entail  certain 
restrictions  beyond  which  intermarriage  is  forbidden."8 

Leaving  this  evidence  for  what  it  is  worth,  and  I  would  sug- 
gest it  is  worth  further  enquiry,  we  have  yet  to  note  one  definite 
fact  about  the  Abors  which  goes  far  to  establish  the  theory  that 
they  represent  a  type  of  the  primitive  horde.  Though  exter- 
nally they  make  up  one  group — a  human  horde  that  is — inter- 

1  Hunter's  "Statistical  Account  of  Assam,"  i,  337. 

2  "  Fortnightly  Keview,"  1869,  xii,  418. 

3  "  Statistical  Account  of  Assam,"  ii,  218. 


128     G.  L.  GOMME. — On  the  Evidence  f<yr  Mr.  McLennan' s 

nally  there  are  no  traces  of  the  cohesion  resulting  from  the  ties 
of  recognised  kinship.  We  are  told  that  "  the  Abors,  as  they 
themselves  say,  are  like  tigers — two  cannot  dwell  in  one  den  ; 
and  their  houses  are  scattered  singly  or  in  groups  of  two  and 
three  over  the  immense  extent  of  mountainous  country  occupied 
by  them.  The  Meris  say  that  whenever  a  few  families  of  Abors 
have  united  into  a  society,  fierce  feuds  about  women  and  sum- 
mary vengeance,  or  the  dread  of  it,  soon  breaks  up  or  scatters 
the  community."1  In  the  unpleasant  details  of  the  internal 
condition  of  the  Abor  people  we  meet  with  Mr.  Darwin's 
example  of  temporary  monandrous  groups  in  local  contact  with 
each  other,  the  whole  forming,  as  I  would  submit,  a  type  of  the 
primitive  human  horde.  The  entire  absence  of  the  ties  of  kin- 
ship prevents  the  growth  of  family  power  within  the  horde, 
while  the  connection  between  the  various  sections  is  shown  by 
the  marriage  intercourse  of  their  members.  Kept  together  by 
outside  forces,  possessing  no  doubt  some  forms  of  the  totem 
system,  which  is  a  binding  power  between  the  units  not  de- 
pending upon  blood  ties,  and  being  entirely  free  from  the  ties 
of  kinship,  these  Abor  people  present  a  very  good  example  of  the 
horde  stage  of  human  society. 

If  we  extend  our  observations  from  this  Abor  type  of  the 
primitive  horde  to  any  parallel  types  we  are  at  once  reminded 
of  the  famous  example  of  the  Cyclopes.  Sir  Henry  Maine, 
equally  with  Plato  and  Aristotle,  adduce  the  Cyclopes  as  evi- 
dence of  the  parental  origin  of  human  society.  The  passage  in 
the  "  Odyssey"  is  thus  rendered  by  Mr.  Lang:  "  and  we  come  to  the 
land  of  the  Cyclopes,  a  forward  and  a  lawless  folk,  who  plant  not 
aught  with  their  hands,  neither  plough.  These  have  neither 
gatherings  for  council  nor  oracles  of  law,  but  they  dwell  in 
hollow  caves  on  the  crest  of  high  hills,  and  each  one  utters  the 
law  to  his  children  and  his  wives,  and  they  reck  not  one  of 
another."  But  in  confining  attention  to  this  one  passage  only 
it  has  been  overlooked  that  the  groups  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren thus  described  were  bound  together  by  some  sort  of  com- 
mon tie.  Thus  Polyphemus  in  his  agony  calls  for  assistance 
"  on  the  Cyclopes  who  dwelt  about  him  in  the  caves  along  the 
windy  heights."  This  tie  we  know  was  not  one  of  recognised 
kinship  for  "  they  reck  not  one  of  another  ; "  and  it  must  have 
been  the  common  dangers,  the  common  fears  of  the  surrounding 
nature  spirits,  in  short,  all  the  recognisable  forces  which  formed 
the  primitive  human  horde,  and  which  we  have  found  existing 

1  "Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,"  xir,  426-428;  Hunter,  "Stat.  Account  of 
Assam,"  i,  351.  It  is  asserted  by  Dalton  that  the  Abors  and  the  Meris  are  of 
the  same  race.  But  Dr.  Hunter  pointedly  states  the  many  objections  to  this 
theory  arising  from  the  difference  of  customs,  religion,  &c.,  ibid.,  p.  333. 


Theory  of  the  Primitive  Human  Horde.  129 

among  the  Abors.  If  we  wanted  a  short  summary  of  the 
social  condition  of  the  Abor  people  Homer's  language  about  the 
Cyclopes  would  in  every  way  answer  the  purpose  ;  and  con- 
versely, it  appears  to  me  that  a  more  elaborate  description  of  the 
Cyclopes  is  to  be  obtained  from  what  is  known  of  the  Abors. 
Clearly  such  an  exchange  of  definitions  indicates  a  social 
parallel  of  remarkable  closeness. 

The  close  parallel  which  thus  clearly  exists  between  the 
Abors  and  the  Cyclopes  as  types  of  a  social  stage  in  man's 
history  is  of  great  importance  in  a  scientific  sense.  Both  geo- 
graphically and  chronologically  they  are  discontinuous;  and 
discontinuity,  to  use  Mr.  Wallace's  term,  of  two  identical  types, 
argues  great  antiquity  for  the  type.  There  are  nearly  4,000 
miles  of  territory  and  nearly  3,000  years  of  history  separating 
the  two  peoples.  The  safe  conclusion  to  draw  from  these  two 
important  factors  in  the  case,  is  that  both  Abors  and  Cyclopes 
belong  to  an  epoch  in  human  history  which  witnessed  the  con- 
tinuous population  of  this  long  stretch  of  territory  by  groups  of 
the  Abor  and  Cyclop  type.1  It  may  be  impossible  to  prove 
that  this  epoch  may  be  identified  with  an  epoch  drawn  from  the 
records  of  other  sciences;  but  if  the  theory  which  has  been 
advanced  is  worth  anything,  it  ought  to  stand  the  test  of  com- 
parison with  the  established  facts  of  geology. 

These  types  of  the  primitive  human  horde,  as  also  the  con- 
ception of  it  suggested  to  Mr.  McLennan  by  his  researches  into 
the  earliest  developments  from  it,  enable  us  safely  to  draw  one 
conclusion,  namely,  that  unorganised  itself,  or  at  all  events  very 
loosely  put  together,  it  was  not  capable  of  meeting  any  strongly 
organised  opposition  from  powerful  enemies.  Such  is  the 
decisive  evidence  of  the  Abor  type ;  the  Cyclopes  declined  to  go 
to  the  assistance  of  their  injured  comrade ;  and  of  one  parallel 
type  which  I  have  noted  from  Africa,  the  Mashona  tribe  of  the 
Transvaal  District,  it  is  stated  that  "  they  live  by  families 
[groups]  on  separate  hills,  and  though  they  intermarry,  they 

1  Another  example  of  such  a  group  may  be  adduced  from  the  remarkable 
tradition  of  the  Northern  Kuris  preserved  in  the  Sanscrit  texts,  translated  by  Mr. 
Muir,  see  Part  -II,  p.  336.  It  is  quoted  by  Mr.  McLennan  in  his  "  Studies  in 
Ancient  History,"  p.  119.  And  to  show  that  the  Abors  are  but  a  type  of  the 
general  aboriginal  Indian  group  I  would  quote  Sir  Alfred  Lyall's  very  suggestive 
description  of  the  Bheels.  They  are  "  all  sub-divided  into  a  variety  of  distinct 
groups,  most  of  them  apparently  muddled  together  by  simple  contiguity  of 
habitation  or  the  natural  banding  together  of  the  number  necessary  for  main- 
taining and  defending  themselves." — "  Asiatic  Studies,"  p.  160.  And  he  goes  on 
to  say  that  "  we  might  make  out  roughly,  in  central  India,  a  graduated  social 
scale,  starting  from  the  simple  aboriginal  horde  at  the  bottom  and  culminating 
with  the  pure  Aryan  clan  at  the  top  ;  nor  would  it  be  difficult  to  show  that  all 
these  classes  are  really  connected  and  have  something  of  a  common  origin." 
This  passage  is  a  remarkable  confirmation  of  the  conclusions  I  had  arrived  at 
before  I  saw  it. 

VOL.  XVII.  K 


130      G.  L.  GOMME. — On  the  Evidence  for  Mr.  McLennan  s 

keep  up  perpetual  feuds ;  it  would  be  most  difficult  to  fuse  this 
mass  into  a  united  nation  [group] ;  their  very  division  into  units 
must  ever  prevent  their  holding  their  own  against  any  organised 
power."1  Now  the  only  organised  opposition  which  the  primi- 
tive horde  could  have  met  would  have  arisen  from  hostile 
hordes  of  man ;  and  geology  clearly  establishes  that  such  an 
opposition  was  obviated  by  the  immense  area  over  which  the 
earliest  races  of  man  spread.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  read  the 
evidence  as  to  the  records  of  the  earlier  stone-age  man,  which  Mr. 
Worsaae  has  supplied  in  his  "  Pre-History  of  the  North,"  with- 
out being  struck  by  the  fact  that  a  constant  spreading  out  over 
the  unoccupied  lands  always  met  the  pressure  of  population. 
And  it  is  curious  to  compare  with  this  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins' 
description  of  the  earliest  races  of  Britain.  Whether  by  accident 
or  design,  whether  a  strict  deduction  from  geologic  evidence  or 
not,  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins  makes  the  difference  between  the  man 
of  mid-pleistocene  age  and  later  comers  to  be  that  the  former 
were  hunters  and  fishers  without  social  organisation,  while  the 
latter  appear  in  tribes.  It  may  be  premature  to  assume  that  the 
geologic  evidence  so  nearly  meets  the  anthropological  as  to 
assert  that  early  stone-age  man  spread  over  the  earth  in  hordes 
uninfluenced  by  the  ties  of  kinship ;  but  it  becomes  an  admis- 
sible suggestion  that  the  two  branches  of  scientific  evidence 
thus  brought  face  to  face  may  conjointly  yield  the  conclusion 
which  has  been  first  deduced  from  other  data. 

There  is  yet  one  other  argument  to  consider  before  concluding 
our  enquiry.  Granting  that  the  first  spread  of  man  might  have 
been  by  hordes,  uninfluenced  by  the  ties  of  kinship,  successive 
waves  of  migrations,  bringing  with  them  the  necessary  conquest 
of  the  descendants  of  previous  ages  of  migrationists,  must  have 
been  bound  together  by  closer  ties  than  those  that  bound  the 
horde.  As  already  we  have  laid  stress  upon  the  fact  that,  as 
there  was  no  necessity  for,  so  there  was  no  thought  of,  a  closely 
knit,  artificial  society  during  the  earliest  periods  of  man's  mi- 
grations, it  is  correlatively  necessary  to  lay  stress  upon  the  fact 
that  when  later  waves  of  migration  spread  their  way  over  the 
earth,  there  then  arose  a  necessity  for  artifically  formed  society. 
Man  had  then  to  meet  man  in  conflict.  To  successfully  over- 
come the  unorganised  hordes  of  hunters  and  fishers,  the  forma- 
tion of  which  we  have  just  been  examining,  organised  bodies 
must  have  been  formed.  Everything  in  geologic  evidence  tends 
to  confirm  this  proposition.  There  is  nothing  in  the  records  of 
the  earlier  stone- age  people,  representatives,  that  is,  of  the 

1  "Further  Correspondence  Relating  to  the  Transyaal"  (House  of  Commons), 
c.  4646  of  1886,  p.  118. 


Theory  of  the  Primitive  Human  Horde.  131 

primitive  human  horde,  to  tell  of  any  development,  even  after 
long  ages  of  settlement,  in  the  social  forms.  But  in  the  later 
stone-age  people,  representatives,  that  is,  of  the  first  wave  of 
conquering  tribes,  there  is  much  to  tell  of  a  development  in  the 
social  forms.  Possessing  new  and  improved  weapons,  which 
became  the  object  of  barter,  accompanied  by  whole  trains  of 
domestic  animals,  oxen,  sheep,  swine,  and  horses,  penetrating 
into  the  forests,  which  had  only  as  yet  been  skirted,  the  later 
stone-age  people  must  have  been  organised  upon  some  tribal 
basis  unknown  to  the  earlier  hordes.  That  this  basis  was  one 
of  kinship,  is  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  rather  from  anthro- 
pological than  geological  evidence;  but  the  latter  goes  far 
towards  proving  such  a  conclusion  from  its  own  records,  when 
it  is  considered  that  now,  for  the  first  time,  the  dead  are  care- 
fully buried,  indicating  that  the  ties  of  kinship  had  already 
influenced  human  thought. 

It  would  appear  then,  that  the  first  ages  of  migration  witnessed 
too  the  formation  of  tribal  organisations  based  upon  the  ties  of 
kinship.  Such  tribal  organisations,  according  to  the  researches 
of  Mr.  McLennan,  had,  for  their  distinctive  features,  the 
reckoning  of  kinship  through  females,  and  the  practice  of  poly- 
andry. Explanations  have  been  offered  as  to  the  origin  of 
female  kinship  and  of  polyandry,  but  neither  the  uncertainty  of 
paternity  in  the  first  case,  nor  the  practice  of  female  infanticide 
in  the  second  case,  can  be  said  to  be  sufficient  for  all  the  facts. 
Already  we  have  noted  the  objections  to  the  theory  of  un- 
certainty of  paternity,  and  great  authorities  have  declared  against 
the  theory  of  female  infanticide.1  If,  then,  the  conditions  of  the 
primitive  human  horde,  both  in  its  normal  state  and  at  the  time 
when  it  met  its  first  human  enemy,  answer  in  any  degree  to  the 
descriptions  which  my  arguments  allow  us  to  formulate,  they 
ought,  also,  to  give  some  clue  to  the  origin  of  the  two  principal 
phenomena  which  Mr.  McLennan  has  adduced  as  belonging  to 
man's  earliest  development  from  the  horde,  namely,  polyandry 
and  kinship  through  females.  The  horde  possessed,  or  had 
developed,  the  principles  of  totemism  and  exogamy.  To  these, 
at  the  time  of  the  great  migrations,  were  super-added  the 
principles  of  polyandry  and  kinship  through  females,  and  the 
point  we  have  to  consider  is :  Do  these  later  developments  show 
anything  of  cause  and  effect  ?  are  the  facts  of  migration  sufficient 
to  bring  about  the  development  of  tribal  society  based  upon 
polyandry  and  kinship  through  females? 

Sir  Henry  Maine  has  already  suggested  that  the  scarcity  of 

1  See  Fison   and  Howifc's   "  Kamilaroi  and   Zurnai,"   p.   174 ;    Sir  Henry 
Maine's  "  Early  Law  and  Custom,"  p.  212. 

K2 


132     G.  L.  GOMME. — On  the  Evidence  for  Mr.  McLennan 's 

women,  and  consequently  polyandry,  might  be  due  to  the 
wanderings  of  our  race  ;l  but  the  examples  he  quotes  are  all 
historical,  and  are  hence  limited  and  isolated  in  extent.  No 
limited  or  isolated  practice  can,  however,  account  for  a 
phenomena  in  human  history  which  is  claimed  to  be  one  of  the 
stages  through  which  mankind  must  have  passed  on  its  way 
to  civilisation,  and  Sir  Henry  Maine  is  not  slow  to  point  out 
this  very  material  objection.  But  pre-historic  migrations  were 
neither  limited  nor  isolated.2  They  covered  almost  all  the  lands 
to  which  the  earlier  stone-age  people,  the  primitive  hordes,  had 
penetrated.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  the  earliest  adventurers 
would  seek  to  be  accompanied  by  some  women,  and  it  is  equally 
conceivable  that  the  number  of  male  adventurers  would  greatly 
exceed  the  female.  Historical  migrations  have  ever  been  so, 
and  so  must  pre-historical  migrations  have  been.  Such  an  initial 
inequality  between  the  sexes  would  probably  become  intensified 
as  the  dangers  of  the  migrations  increased,  and  hence  would 
arise  the  rude  system  of  polyandry.  Compelled  thus  to  acknow- 
ledge ties  which  had  previously  not  been  so  prominently  thrust 
forward,  the  new  migrationists  would  soon  perceive  that  the  fact 
of  kinship  was  of  enormous  importance  in  keeping  their  own 
race  distinct  and  clear  from  the  people  they  were  conquering  or 
enslaving.3  The  war  was  not  now  one  between  man  and  nature 
only ;  but  between  man  and  man.  The  fight  was  harder,  and 
the  organisation  of  the  conquerors  must  have  been  closer,  and  it 
was  formed  upon  the  conception  that  there  could  be  no  affinity 
between  the  new  coming  conquerors,  and  the  scattered  hunting 
and  fishing  people — a  conception  that  could  only  become  of 
supreme  importance  if  the  ties  of  observable  kinship  were 
gathered  up  and  utilised  for  political  organisation.  Thus  would 
originate  kinship  groups,  as  opposed  to  local  groups ;  and  thus 
polyandry  and  descent  through  the  female  would  be  the  first 
distinguishing  marks  of  the  earliest  kindreds. 

Although  I  do  not  lay  claim  to  the  idea  that,  such  a 
hypothesis,  as  I  have  here  ventured  to  formulate,  can  be 
absolutely  proved  by  the  only  science  which  is  capable  of 
affording  such  proof,  namely,  anthropology,  yet  I  suggest  that  it 
is  wTorth  while  putting  it  forward  for  consideration.  In  the  first 
place  it  affords,  so  far  as  it  is  at  all  tenable,  a  conception  of  the 
earliest  form  of  human  society  which  entirely  fits  in  with  the 

1  "Early  Law  and  Custom,"  p.  212. 

2  Geological  changes  and  meteorological  changes  as  well  as  the  consequent 
changes  of  flora  and  fauna  must  have  been  causing  over  all  parts  of  the  earth 
perpetual  emigrations  and  immigrations. — Spencer's  "  Principles  of  Sociology," 
i,  p.  18. 

3  Cf.  Worsaae's  "  Pre-History  of  the  North,"  p.  26. 


Theory  of  the  Primitive  Human  Horde.  133 

theory  of  one  important  authority — Mr.  McLennan — on  the 
later  developments  of  society.  In  the  second  place  no  one  has 
yet  supplied  the  necessary  groundwork  upon  which  such  an 
enquiry  may  be  based.  So  far,  then,  as  my  researches  are  in 
accord  with  Mr.  McLennan,  and  so  far  as  they  fill  up  a  gap  in 
anthropological  science,  I  venture  to  hope  that  they  may  be  of 
service  as  a  working  hypothesis  for  future  research. 

DISCUSSION. 

The  PRESIDENT  thought  that  the  author  had  done  good  service 
in  bringing  to  notice  a  definite  stage  in  the  theoretical  course  of 
human  evolution,  which  had  as  yet  received  no  generally  accepted 
name.  It  was  the  stage,  as  the  author  had  shown,  before  any 
recognised  system  of  kinship  existed,  and  before  there  were  any 
political  bonds,  but  one  in  which,  people  were  aggregated  solely 
under  tbe  compression  of  external  influences.  He  had,  however, 
some  doubt  whether  the  stage  in  question  was  aptly  enough 
expressed  by  the  word  that  the  author  desired  to  use  for  it. 
"  Horde"  is  a  term  of  Asiatic  origin,  still  and  always  used  to  express 
aggregations  of  men  living  under  very  different  social  conditions 
to  those  just  supposed.  It  is  true  that  in  colloquial  English  the 
word  horde  is  often  used  in  a  vague  sense,  and  this  h.e  suspected 
to  be  due  to  some  confusing  similarity  in  sound  between  it  and  tbe 
word  herd,  wbicb  he  need  hardly  say  was  of  entirely  different 
origin  and  meaning.  Neither  did  he  wish  to  convey  the  slightest 
intimation  tbat  the  author  had  himself  unintentionally  con- 
founded the  two.  Still,  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  word  herd, 
though  not  free  from  objection,  was  more  appropriate  to  the 
social  stage  that  tbe  author  desired  to  express,  tban  the  word 
horde. 

The  AUTHOR  in  reply  to  the  President  said  that  the  reason  why 
he  had  chosen  the  word  horde  was  because  Mr.  McLennan  had 
already  used  it.  Moreover,  it  had  not  come  to  have  any  very 
great  political  meaning  yet,  and  in  time  tEe  scientific  meaning 
wbicb  was  now  sought  to  obtain  for  it  would  in  the  end  overshadow 
what  little  political  meaning  was  attached  to  it  in  connection  with 
the  Huns  of  Attila,  and  other  famous  "  hordes "  of  men.  The 
term  "berd"  was  already  usefully  and  definitely  used  for  animals, 
though  there  was  nothing  in  its  signification  which  would  not  suit 
the  definition  he  sought  to  give  to  the  period  of  human  life  which 
it  might  represent.  As  to  the  examples  he  had  given  of  tbe 
primitive  human  horde,  he  by  no  means  suggested  that  they  were 
absolutely  types  of  this  far-off  period  of  human  history ;  all  that  he 
suggested  was  that  they  gave  us  the  nearest  parallel  to  what  the 
primitive  human  horde  must  have  been,  although  they  might  have 
reached  tbeir  modern  form  by  degradation  from  higher  civilisation, 
for  degraded  types  of  bumanity  probably  retraced  some  of  their 
former  steps  of  progress. 


1 34  List  of  Presents. 

A  Note  on  the  D  ley  ere  Tribe  of  South  Australia  by  Mr. 
Samuel  Gason,  communicated  by  Mr.  J.  G.  Frazer,  was  read  by 
the  Secretary.  This  is  printed  in  the  Miscellanea  at  the  end 
of  the  present  number  of  the  Journal. 


JUNE  14m,  1887. 

FRANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.B.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 

The  election  of  Sir  WALTER  BULLER,  K.C.M.G.,  F.R.S.,  of 
52,  Stanhope  Gardens,  was  announced. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors : — 

FOR  THE  LIBRARY. 

From  the  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. — Dinocerata,  a 
Monograph  of  an  Extinct  Order  of  Gigantic  Mammals.  By 
Othniel  Charles  Marsh. 

From  the  ASSOCIATION. — Report  of  the  Fifty-sixth  Meeting  of 
British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  ;  held  at 
Birmingham,  in  September,  1886. 

From  the  SOCIETY. — Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society.     No.  254. 

Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society.  1887. 

June. 

Papers  and  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Tasmania 

for  1886. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.     Nos.  1801-1803. 

Boletim  da  Sociedade  de  Geographia  de  Lisboa.  6A  Serie. 

Nos.  9,  10  ell. 

Bulletin  de  la  Societe  d'Anthropologie  de  Lyon.  Tom.  v. 

1886. 

From  the  SCOTTISH  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY. — The  Scottish  Geo- 
graphical Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  6. 

From  the  EDITOR. — Nature,  Nos.  917-919. 

Science,  Nos.  224,  225. 

The  Photographic  Times,  Nos.  296-298. 


The  EARL  of  DUCIE,  F.R.S.,  exhibited  three  perforated  stones 
from  Scotland,  known  locally  as  "  Mare-Stanes,"  and  the  follow- 
ing note  on  the  subject  was  read  by  the  Secretary : — 


EARL  OF  DUCIE. — Exhibition  of  Tliree  "  Mare- Status."     135 

EXHIBITION  of  THREE  "  MARE-STANES,"  or  "  HAG-STONES." 
By  the  EARL  of  DUCIE. 

THE  following  is  an  account  of  three  "  Mare-stanes,"  Anglice 
H&g-stones,  received  by  Lord  Ducie,  from  Marykirk,  Kincardine- 
shL-e,  N.B.,  May,  1887. 

One  of  the  stones  has  two  human  teeth  inserted  and  fixed  in 
the  natural  holes  in  the  stone.  It  was  known  to  have  been 
70  years  in  one  house,  and  was  given  to  Mr.  A.,  of  Marykirk, 
by  an  old  lady.  She  had  used  it  to  ward  off  bad  dreams.  ' 

The  other  two  are  thus  described  by  the  person  who  procured 
them :  "  Mare-stanes  were  very  common  thirty  years  ago  in 
this  district  (Marykirk),  and  many  are  used  yet,  but  those  who 
are  in  possession  of  them  do  not  like  to  own  it.  They  are  still 
common  in  the  fishing  villages  along  our  coast. 

"  The  old  grandfather  of  Mrs.  1ST.  sometimes  comes  to  Mary- 
kirk on  a  visit,  brings  his  Mare-stane  in  his  pouch,  and  hangs 
it  in  his  bed.  He  comes  from  Stonehaven,  and  is  an  old 
fisherman. 

"  Sandy  M's.  wife,  while  she  stayed  at  B.,  always  kept  the 
Mare-stane  in  the  bed ;  and  a  Mrs.  G.,  of  Edinburgh,  a  lady  who 
came  to  B.  many  years,  always  liked  that  stone  in  her  bed. 

"  Old  Susan  S.  assures  me  that  when  the  females  of  a  house 
had  all  the  work,  and  were  '  stinted '  to  do  a  given  amount  of 
work  at  the  spinning  wheel  before  they  got  any  supper,  and  so 
much  before  they  went  to  bed,  they  were  very  liable  to  take 
the  'Mare'  (i.e.  nightmare)  owing  to  anxiety  connected  with 
their  stints,  and  the  '  Stane'  was  a  regular  preventive.  Mar- 
ried ladies,  she  says,  when  in  an  interesting  condition,  were 
very  particular  in  having  the  Mare-stane  in  the  proper  place, 
and  she  has  known  '  Stanes '  hung  in  byres,  behind  cows 
expected  to  calve,  to  ensure  safety. 

"  How  it  is  that  the  natural  worn  hole  gives  this  charm,  I 
cannot  tell. 

"  I  am  assured  that  there  are  not  a  few  in  our  village  besides 
these,  but  one  does  not  care  to  hunt  for  these  sacred  relics.  We 
are  not  a  superstitious  people,  but  somehow  a  veneration  and 
reverence  is  set  on  any  thing  or  custom  which  our  mother  or 
grandmother  had  or  did." 

Dr.  John  Evans,  F.R.S.,  writing  to  Lord  Ducie  on  the  subject 
gave  the  following  references  : — Brand's  "  Popular  Antiquities," 
by  Ellis,  1849,  vol.  iii,  279-280,  in  referring  to  nightmare,  quotes 
thus  from  Aubrey's  "  Miscellanies,"  p.  147  : — "  To  hinder  the 
nightmare,  they  [people  in  the  north  of  England]  hang  in  a 


136  Discussion. 

string  a  flint  with  a  hole  in  it  (naturally)  by  the  manger;  but, 
best  of  all  they  say,  hang  about  their  necks,  and  a  flint  will  not 
do  it  that  hath  not  a  hole  in  it.  It  is  to  prevent  the  nightmare, 
viz.,  the  hag,  from  riding  their  horses,  who  will  sometimes 
sweat  at  night,  the  flint  thus  hung  does  hinder  it."  He  adds, 
"  Grose  says,  a  stone  with  a  hole  in  it,  hung  at  the  bed's  head, 
will  prevent  the  nightmare ;  it  is  therefore  called  a  hag-sUne 
from  that  disorder,  which  is  occasioned  by  a  hag  or  witch  sitting 
on  the  stomach  of  the  party  afflicted.  It  also  prevents  witches 
riding  horses;  for  which  purpose  it  is  often  tied  to  a  stable 
key." 

In  "  Notes  and  Queries,"  series  vi,  vol.  1,  p.  54,  is  given  an 
abstract  from  an  old  book  printed  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time, 
headed  "Of  the  Nightmare;'  describing  a  "t'onde  foolishe 
charme  "  as  follows  :  "  Take  a  Flynt  Stone  that  hath  a  hole  of 
hys  owne  kinde,  and  hang  it  oner  hym  .  .  ."  to  which  the 
written  charm,  as  there  related,  is  to  be  attached. 


DISCUSSION, 

Dr.  EVATSTS  observed  that.  i,t  was  the  first  time  that  Tie  had  heard 
of  the  use  of  human  teeth  in  connection  with  "hag-stones"  or 
"  witch-stones."  It  seemed  possible  to  account  for  the  idea  that 
horses  were  ridden  during  the  night  by  -witches,  from  the  animals, 
when  ill,  being  found  in  a  state  of  sweat  in  the  morning,  for  which 
such  exercise  might  seem  to  account.  But  in  what  manner  a 
stone  with  a  hole  in  it  sufficed  to  exclude  witches,  or  how  the 
nightmare  was  transferred  to  the  human  being,  involved  more 
difficult  questions.  The  great  prevalence  of  the  use  of  the  hag- 
stones  in  the  district  of  Marykirk  was  remarkable.  The  use  of 
"  lucky-stones  "  was  common,  and  he  had  cited  intances  in  his 
"  Stone  Implements."  The  use  of  a  hollow  stone  to  hang  up  in 
our  stables  to  prevent  the  Ephialtes,  or  nightmare,  is  mentioned 
by  Sir  Thomas  Browne. — "  Vulgar  Errors,"  Bk.  v,  ch.  xxii,  sec.  7. 

Mr.  RUDLER  remarked  that  the  three  stones  exhibited  varied 
much  in  mineralogical  characters.  One  was  a  water- worn  frag- 
ment of  limestone,  drilled  by  a  boring  mollusc ;  another  was  a 
piece  of  quartz,  probably  from  the  crystalline  schists  of  the  east  of 
Scotland,  containing  a  greenish  chloritic  mineral,  the  natural  re- 
moval of  which  seemed  to  have  formed  the  holes  in  the  stone ; 
while  the  third  was  a  jaspery  pebble,  probably  derived  from  a 
conglomerate  in  the  Old  Red  Sandstone. 

A  perforated  stone  is  sometimes  known  in  the  north  of  England 
as  a  Hog-stone,  and  in  Harland.  and  Wilkinson's  "  Lancashire 
Folk-Lore"  (p.  154),  it  is  said  that  a  hog-stone,  or  stone  with  a  hole 
in  it,  is  tied  to  the  stable-key,  in  Lancashire,  to  protect  horses,  or 
is  hung  at  the  head  of  the  bed  to  protect  the  farmer  and  his  family. 


CAPT.  C.  E.  CONDER. — HiUite,  Ethnology.  137 

In  the  south  of  England,  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  flints  with 
natural  perforations,  and  these  are  commonly  regarded  by  children 
as  "  lucky-stones."  In  Butler's  "  Hudibras,"  we  read  of  a  sorcerer 
who  could— 

"  Chase  evil  spirits  away  by  dint, 
Of  sickle,  horse-shoe,  and  hollow  flint ." 


The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

HITTITE  ETHNOLOGY. 
By  Captain  C.  R.  CONDER,  E.E. 

THE  President  having  done  me  tlie  honour  to  ask  me  to  read  a 
paper  about  the  Hittites,  I  have  here  sought  to  show  the  general 
considerations  which  appear  to  guide  us  to  a  right  understanding 
of  their  race,  religion,  language,  and  customs.  It  is  a  question  in 
which  I  have  been  interested  now  for  seven  years,  and  I  hope 
that  I  have  not  failed  to  read  every  work  of  importance  that  has 
been  written  on  the  subject. 

I  propose  to  assume  that  the  Kheta  known  to  the  Egyptians, 
the  Khatti  conquered  by  the  Assyrians,  and  the  sons  of  Heth 
mentioned  in  the  Bible  are  the  same  people.  This  has  been 
disputed,  but  since  it  is  held  to  be  the  case  by  Prof.  Sayce,  Dr. 
Taylor,  and  M.  Perrct,  and  was,  I  believe,  recognised  by  Lenor- 
mant,  and  since  these  writers  have  given  their  reasons  for  such  a 
conclusion,  it  appears  to  be  sufficiently  recognised  to  be  certain 
of  final  acceptation. 

The  study  of  any  people  of  antiquity  rests,  according  to  Max 
Mtiller,  on  a  knowledge  of  physical  appearance,  language,  and 
religion.  A  race  may  lose  to  a  certain  extent  its  characteristic 
type  through  difference  of  climate,  of  food,  or  of  habit,  or  through 
admixture  of  foreign  blood.  It  may  adopt  a  new  foreign 
religion ;  it  may  forget  its  original  language  ;  but  if  we  can  find 
it  preserving  a  type,  a  religion,  and  a  language  which  all  belong 
to  one  original  pure  stock,  we  are  then  able  to  recognise  the 
relation  of  the  stock  to  others  of  the  same  human  family. 

It  might  at  one  time  have  appeared  incredible  that  we  should 
ever  know  anything  of  the  Canaanite  tribes  which  preceded 
Israel  in  Palestine,  and  which  were  almost  exterminated  in  the 
south  at  the  time  of  the  Hebrew  conquest ;  but  it  was  quite  as 
unexpected  in  the  last  century  that  we  should  ever  recover 
Sennacherib's  account  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  or  know  the 
historv  of  Nebuchadnezzar  from  official  records.  Since  we  have 


138  CAPT.  C.  E.  CO^DEH.— Hittite  Ethnology. 

in  Egypt  pictures  which  are  known  to  represent  Hittite  kings 
and  warriors,  and  statues  of  the  gods  with  hieroglyphic  texts 
discovered  in  the  Hittite  country,  it  is  clear  that  it  is  no  mere 
theory  with  which  we  have  to  deal,  but  with  records  as  real  and 
as  important  as  those  whereby  the  Egyptians,  the  Akkadians,  the 
Medes,  the  Babylonians,  Assyrians,  Etruscans,  Persians,  Greeks, 
and  Phoenicians  are  already  more  or  less  well  known  to  us  all. 

And  first  as  regards  race,  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  the 
ancient  sculptors  of  Asia  and  of  Egypt  carefully  distinguished 
the  various  peculiarities  of  race  in  their  pictures.  In  Egypt  side 
by  side  with  the  varioiis  Egyptian  types  we  find  the  black  negro, 
the  hook-nosed  Semitic  people,  and  the  yellow  peoples  of  the 
north  represented.  The  Phrenician  with  shaven  upper  lip  and 
long  beard,  the  brown  ancestor  of  the  Arabs,  are  clearly  dis- 
tinguishable from  other  types  ;  and  at  Tell  Loh,  by  quite  recent 
discoveries,  a  dark  race,  with  fine  features  recalling  the  Abyssinian, 
has  lately  been  brought  to  light,  which  is  no  doubt  the  same 
"  dark  people  "  mentioned  in  one  of  the  oldest  cuneiform  records. 
I  understand  that  the  question  of  obtaining  good  reproductions 
of  these  various  types  is  already  under  consideration,  and  no 
doubt  interesting  papers  on  this  subject  may  be  shortly  expected  ; 
but  in  the  meanwhile  I  may  say  that  the  differences  of  type  are 
already  so  well  known  and  are  so  marked  that  we  have  sufficient 
evidence  in  the  pictures  of  Eosellini,  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson, 
Brugsch,  and  others  to  enable  us  to  draw  very  definite  conclusions. 

On  the  walls  of  the  great  temple  of  Karnak  the  Hittites  of 
Kadesh  are  represented  warring  against  Eameses  II.  Two  races 
have  combined  their  forces  and  are  easily  distinguished  in  these 
pictures.  The  one  is  a  dark  or  brown  race,  bearded,  and 
resembling  the  ordinary  Semitic  type.  This  no  doubt  is  the 
population  which  accounts  for  the  Semitic  nomenclature  of 
Palestine  before  the  Hebrew  conquest,  which  is  to  be  recovered 
in  the  long  list  of  towns  conquered  by  Thothmes  III  in  Palestine. 
Kadesh,  the  great  city  where  the  battle  against  Eameses  II  was 
fought  had  itself  a  Semitic  name,  and  no  fact  is  better  established 
than  the  existence  in  Palestine  as  early  as  1600  B.C.  of  a  people 
speaking  a  language  akin  to  Hebrew. 

But  side  by  side  with  this  population,  the  ruling  class 
as  represented  in  the  chariots  which  are  rushing  towards  the 
Egyptian  army,  or  fleeing  before  the  Pharaoh,  there  are  warriors 
and  drivers  of  another  type.  They  have  a  lighter  complexion. 
They  have  black  hair  and  eyes,  but  no  beards.  Their  moustaches 
are  long  and  their  heads  are  more  or  less  shaven,  and  they  have 
real  pigtails  like  the  Chinese.  I  well  remember  Dr.  Birch  five 
years  ago  in  the  British  Museum  bringing  out  for  me  the  plates 
in  Eosellini  and  saying,  "  Look  at  the  Hittites,  are  they  not  just 


CAPT.  C.  R  CONDER. — Hittite  Ethnology.  139 

like  Mongols  or  Chinese  ?"  It  was  then  a  new  idea  to  me,  but 
if  we  reflect  on  the  relations  of  race  still  notable  in  travelling 
through  Palestine  and  Northern  Syria,  it  seems  to  me  that  we 
perhaps  begin  to  understand  Hebrew  history  better.  The  war 
against  the  Canaanites  may  have  been  only  part  of  the  con- 
stantly recurring  struggle  still  going  on  in  Syria  between  the 
Semitic  and  the  Turanian  peoples;  the  race  hatred  between 
Israel  and  Canaan  becomes  identified  with  that  antipathy  which 
has  always  existed  between  these  two  peoples,  who  nevertheless 
have  lived  together  since  the  dawn  of  history  and  have  mutually 
influenced  and  civilised  one  another. 

The  evidence  of  physiognomy  seemed,  I  would  submit, 
sufficient  ground  for  an  inquiry  into  the  relationship  which  the 
Hittites,  if  a  Turanian  people,  must  have  borne  to  other 
Turanian  populations  in  the  west  of  Asia.  Now  in  studying 
such  a  subject  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  begin  by  accepting 
what  has  been  laid  down  by  competent  authority.  I  do  not 
claim  to  have  any  opinion  as  to  the  true  home  of  the  Turanian 
race,  or  as  to  the  relationships  between  north  and  south 
Turanian  languages.  Max  Mliller  enumerates  more  than  100 
such  languages  spoken  in  Asia,  of  which  more  than  half  are 
grouped  as  South  Turanian,  including  the  Indian,  Malay,  and 
Himalaic  groups.  He  regards  this  great  number  of  tongues 
which  (as  compared  with  eight  Semitic  and  some  forty  Aryan 
tongues)  represent  a  large  majority  of  Asiatic  languages  as  being 
all  more  or  less  remotely  linked  to  that  most  archaic  form  of 
Asiatic  speech — the  oldest  Chinese.  According  to  the  generally 
received  theory  the  majority  of  North  Turanian  tongues  are 
grouped  together  as  Ugro-Altaic,  on  the  supposition  that  the 
home  of  the  race  was  in  the  Altai  Mountains  north-west  of 
China,  and  that  the  Turanians  of  Western  Asia  migrated  thence. 
The  Finnic  tribes,  among  whom  are  reckoned  four  great  families, 
are  those  which  seem  to  have  penetrated  furthest  west.  Their 
families  are — 1st,  the  Ugric,  including  Hungarians,  Voguls,  and 
Ostiaks ;  2nd,  the  Bulgaric,  who  advanced  from  the  Asiatic 
Bulgaria  to  the  country  now  so  called ;  3rdly,  the  Permic ;  and 
4thly,  the  Chudic,  including  Lapps,  Finns,  and  Esthonians.  Of 
these  Finnic  peoples  the  Hungarians  and  the  Finns  are  the  most 
civilised ;  and  the  Kalevala  is  a  native  epic  which  has  been 
called  the  Turanian  Iliad,  and  which,  to  the  student  of  Asiatic 
mythology,  is  of  the  greatest  possible  value. 

Next  to  these  Finnic  peoples  the  Turkic  tribes  have  to  be 
considered.  From  the  Oxus  they  pushed  gradually  westwards 
into  Asia  Minor  and  Mesopotamia.  The  Turks,  Turkomans,  and 
Siberians,  the  races  of  Anatolia  and  Koumelia,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Crimea,  are  classed  by  Max  Muller  as  Turkic,  and  the 


140  CAPT.  C.  R  COXDEK. — Eittiie  Ethnology. 

modern  Turkish  language,  with  its  wonderful  grammar  and  its 
vocabulary  full  of  Arabic,  Persian,  and  other  foreign  words, 
represents  the  results  of  centuries  of  foreign  influence  on  the 
hardy  horsemen  of  Central  Asia. 

The  eastern  groups — the  Mongols  and  the  Tunguse  peoples 
near  China  need  not  arrest  our  attention.  It  is  with  the 
migrants  who  went  west  that  we  have  evidently  to  do,  not  so 
much  with  those  who  went  east  or  south  towards  China  and 
India. 

Now  among  the  great  discoveries  of  the  cuneiform  scholars 
none  is  more  wonderful  than  that  of  a  Turanian  population 
existing  long  before  2000  B.C.  in  Mesopotamia.  The  ancient 
Akkadian  language  is  thought  to  have  become  a  dead  language 
about  1500  B.C.  The  language  of  the  common  people  of  Media, 
known  by  the  inscriptions  of  the  Achaemenidse  after  the  fall  of 
Babylon,  has  been  closely  studied  by  Lenormant,  and  he  says  it 
is  found  to  approach  both  in  its  grammar  and  in  its  vocabulary 
to  the  Akkadian — this  is  the  so-called  Proto-Medic;  further 
south  the  Susian  language,  though  its  grammar  differs,  yet  retains 
many  of  the  old  noun  and  verb  roots  of  Akkadian  quite  in  a 
recognisable  form  ;  and  is  said,  indeed,  to  be  nearer  Akkadian 
than  is  the  Proto-Medic.  There  are  other  dialects  called  Cassite 
and  Sumerian,  distinguished,  yet  akin  to  Akkadian,  and  Akkadian 
being  some  2,000  years  older  than  Proto-Medic,  being  in  fact  the 
oldest  known  Turanian  language  of  Western  Asia,  has  even  been 
called  the  Sanskrit  of  Turanian  tongues. 

The  investigation  of  Akkadian  has  led  to  just  the  results 
which  might  naturally  be  expected.  It  is  found  to  differ  in 
structure  from  any  modern  Altaic  tongue,  but  to  be  nearest  to 
the  Finnic  languages  or  more  probably  to  the  Turkic.  The 
Finns  call  themselves  Suoma-lainen,  or  "  fen  dwellers,"  a  word 
which  the  great  French  scholar  Lenormant  compares  with  the 
name  Sumerian,  which  was  proper  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
lowlands  near  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  as  distinguished 
from  the  Akkadians  or  "  highlanders."  Whether  the  Finns 
came  westwards  or  pushed  northwards  practically  they  are 
the  same  original  people,  we  may  say,  as  the  old  Altaic 
race  of  Chaldea.  Finnic  and  Turkic  languages  supply  a  key 
to  the  Akkadian  cuneiform  like  that  supplied  by  Coptic  for 
Egyptian. 

Another  scholar  working  without  any  reference  to  the 
Akkadians  in  the  first  instance  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that 
the  ancient  Etruscan  race  in  Italy  was  also  Altaic  and  that  the 
Etruscan  language  is  akin  to  the  Finnic  languages.  This 
student  was  Dr.  Isaac  Taylor,  and  on  comparing  his  Etruscan 
vocabulary  with  Akkadian  I  found  many  words  which  are  the 


.  C.  E.  CONDEE. — Hittite  Ethnology.  141 

same,  including  nearly  every  word  which  he  had  been  able  to  fix 
by  comparison  with  Finnic  languages. 

But  yet  more,  although  Basque  is  not  grouped  as  an  Altaic 
language  but  with  Esquimaux  as  an  "incorporating  tongue," 
that  is  to  say,  one  perhaps  more  primitive  than  the  Finnic, 
still  Lenormant  has  shown  that  the  vocabulary  and  the  grammar 
of  the  Basque  both  shew  a  connection  with  Akkadian.  Even  in 
Egypt,  though  the  language  is  distinct,  a  certain  number  of  loan 
words  are  said  to  have  been  discovered  which  are  identical  with 
Finnic  words.  These  separate  studies  by  distinguished  students 
serve  then  to  connect  more  or  less  the  Finns,  the  Basques,  the 
ancient  Etruscans  (and  to  a  certain  degree  even  the  Egyptians) 
with  the  old  Turanian  populations  of  Mesopotamia. 

Tracing  back  from  Etruria  or  west  from  Media,  we  shall  find 
it  possible  perhaps  to  fill  up  the  gap  also  in  Asia  Minor.  The 
Etruscans  are  said  to  have  been  related  to  the  Carians,  Lycians, 
and  Lydians ;  and  Lenormant  long  ago  stated  as  a  fact  that  all 
across  what  is  now  Anatolia  an  ancient  Turanian  population  ex- 
isted akin  to  the  Akkadians.  The  Carian  and  Lycian  mercenaries 
found  their  way  to  Egypt,  and  the  evidence  of  palaeography 
seems  to  show  that  the  same  population  may  have  existed  in 
Cyprus.  The  Etruscans  were  a  sturdy,  big-headed  people,  with 
eyes  oblique  like  the  Chinese,  black  hair,  high  cheek  bones, 
squat  figures,  and  without  beard  or  moustache.  If  we  go  to 
Cappadocia  and  look  at  the  monuments  cut  on  the  rocks  we 
find  exactly  the  same  type — the  sturdy  figure,  short  nose,  and 
hairless  mouth.  This  type  of  race  recalls  that  of  the  Mongols 
in  later  times  as  described  by  travellers,  and  it  is  as  much 
contrasted  as  possible  with  the  Semitic  type. 

Seeing  then  that  the  Hittites  were  shut  in  on  all  sides  by 
Turanian  tribes,  said  to  be  akin  to  the  Akkadians,  and  re- 
membering their  own  Mongolian  appearance,  we  might  be 
justified  in  supposing  that  they  belonged  to  the  same  race.  In 
Akkadian  and  Etruscan  and  Proto -Medic  we  have  ancient 
languages,  which  we  may  perhaps  compare  with  that  spoken  by 
the  Hittites. 

A  curious  peculiarity  of  dress  also  serves  to  indicate  the 
same  general  connection.  In  Cappadocia  and  in  Anatolia  the 
monuments  represent  figures  with  a  boot  or  shoe  curled  up  in 
front.  An  Assyrian  representation  of  an  Armenian  merchant 
shows  the  same  boot.  Prof.  Sayce  has  called  it  a  snow-shoe, 
but  I  think  Sir  C.  Wilson  first  compared  it  with  the  boot  now 
worn  by  the  peasantry  of  Asia  Minor.  Perrot  compares  it  with 
the  cavalry  boot  worn  in  Syria,  and  with  what  we  call  a  Turkish 
shipper.  I  find  also  that  the  Etruscans  wore  a  similar  shoe 
called  Calceus  Repandus  by  the  Komans.  On  the  monuments 


142  CAPT.  C.  R  CONDEK. — Hittite  Ethnology. 

at  Karnak  the  Hittites  are  represented  wearing  the  same  shoe, 
and  although  it  is  not  of  necessity  a  mark  of  race,  it  is  still 
curious  that  this  curly-toed  boot  was  common  to  the  various 
Turanian  peoples  of  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Armenia,  and  Italy. 

But  as  regards  the  language  it  may  be  asked :  How  do  we 
know  monumentally  what  language  the  Hittites  spoke  ?  We 
may  know  from  the  names  of  their  kings,  and  from  the  names 
of  towns  in  the  Hittite  country,  as  recorded  by  the  scribes  of 
Rameses  II  and  of  Thothmes  III.  The  topographical  lists  are 
about  as  old  as  1600  B.C.,  and  the  lists  of  kings  about  as  old  as 
1340  H.C.  The  scholars  who  have  written  on  this  subject,  from 
Chabas  downwards,  have  agreed  in  saying  that  the  names  of 
the  Hittite  kings  are  not  Semitic,  and  not  Aryan,  and  that  they 
must  either  be  Turanian,  or  belong  to  that  class  of  languages  of 
the  Caucasus,  which  has  been  called  Alarodian.  In  a  list  of 
twenty-five  royal  names,  we  find  the  words  Tar,  Sar,  Nazi,  Lar, 
and  others  repeated  as  personal  names.  These  are  not  new  or 
unknown  words  at  all.  They  occur  in  the  languages  already 
noticed.  Unless  some  new  reading  is  pronounced  to  be  correct 
in  cuneiform  we  have  Tar,  Sar,  Nazi,  occurring  in  personal 
names  in  Akkadian  and  in  Proto-Medic;  and  in  Susian  also  Nazi 
occurs.  Lar  is  a  very  familar  Etruscan  word  for  a  chief,  and  I 
venture  to  compare  it  with  lul  and  rar  for  chief,  enumerated  as 
Akkadian  words  in  Prof.  Sayce's  "Assyrian  Grammar."  There  are 
many  similar  cases  in  the  name  list  in  question,  and  although 
such  evidence  is,  of  course,  not  sufficient  to  show  that  the 
Hittites  talked  Akkadian,  it  seems  to  me  strongly  to  favour  the 
view  that  they  gave  to  their  kings  titles  which  can  be  shown  to 
be  common  words  meaning  "king,"  "chief,"  or  "prince,"  traceable 
through  very  many  Altaic  languages  or  dialects. 

The  topographical  name  lists  are  not  only  earlier,  but  they 
are  more  valuable,  because  they  include  no  less  than  200  names. 
They  are,  however,  very  difficult  to  study  for  several  reasons. 
Mariette,  Maspero,  and  other  scholars  have  given  much  attention 
to  these  lists,  which  occur  in  hieroglyphic  writing  at  Karnak. 
It  appears  to  be  generally  recognised — and  I  believe  Lenormant 
held  the  same  view — that  the  names  in  question  are  in  some 
cases  Semitic,  and  in  other  cases — probably  in  the  majority— 
non- Semitic.  The  first  difficulty  then  is  to  distinguish  between 
these  two  classes  of  names.  Kadesh,  for  instance,  the  Hittite 
southern  capital,  had  an  evidently  Semitic  name;  but  Car- 
chemish,  their  northern  capital,  had  a  name  which  is  not 
Semitic,  according  to  general  opinion.  In  addition  to  this 
difficulty  there  is  the  difficulty  of  correctly  deciphering  the 
hieroglyphic  signs.  There  is  not  a  complete  agreement  appa- 
rently on  this  point.  What  some  scholars  have  taken  as  a 


CAPT.  C.  E.  CONDEK. — Hittite  Ethnology.  143 

determinative,  others  have  read  as  a  syllable,  and  the  characters 
on  the  walls  of  the  Karnak  Temple — some  of  which  are  quite 
obliterated — have  been  differently  represented. 

But  even  with  all  these  drawbacks,  there  remains  a  great 
deal  that  is  certainly  known  and  generally  agreed  to  concerning 
these  town  names,  and  I  believe  it  is  recognised  that  next  to 
the  study  of  the  names  for  numbers,  for  relationships,  and  for 
very  common  objects,  the  geographical  names  of  a  country 
afford  some  of  the  most  valuable  possible  evidence  concerning 
the  race  which  gave  those  names.  The  lists  in  question  I  have 
studied  geographically  for  ten  years,  and  a  great  many  sugges- 
tions as  to  the  probable  sites,  in  the  south  especially,  which  I 
ventured  to  put  forward  in  1876,  I  find  to  have  been  accepted 
by  M.  Maspero,  and  by  Rev.  H.  G.  Tomkins,  who  has  devoted 
much  labour  to  this  question,  and  appears  to  have  fixed  many  of 
the  sites  in  northern  Syria  and  Asia  Minor.  Going  over  these 
lists  again  and  again  with  the  hieroglyphics  before  me  arid  with 
the  aid  of  the  papers  by  M.  Maspero,  Mr.  Tomkins,  and  Prof. 
Sayce,  it  has  seemed  to  me  more  and  more  clear  that  the  sounds 
in  a  great  many  cases  are  the  same  to  which  I  find  a  geogra- 
phical meaning  attached  in  the  glossaries  of  Akkadian  prepared 
by  Lenormant,  by  Delitszch,  and  by  others. 

I  am,  of  course,  aware  that  the  study  of  Akkadian  is  so 
rapidly  advancing,  that  sounds  which  occur  in  all  the  books 
written  some  years  ago  may  now  be  considered  incorrect  by  the 
accepted  authorities.  It  is  also  certain  that  as  a  great  many  of 
these  sounds  are  common  to  all  the  various  Finnic  and  Turkic 
languages,  they  would  not  serve  to  do  more  than  to  establish 
generally  an  Altaic  connection.  But  even  this  would  be  a 
great  gain,  and  I  think  that  by  using  the  works  of  Donner,  of 
Castren,  and  of  Vambery,  on  which  Lenormant  used  to  rely  in 
fixing  the  pronounciation  of  Akkadian  words,  it  ought  at  least 
to  be  possible  to  arrive  through  these  lists  at  a  general  idea  of 
the  language  spoken  in  the  Hittite  country  between  1600  and 
1300  B.C.  If  we  take,  for  instance,  the  word  Ma,  which 
Lenormant  and  F.  Delitszch,  in  their  Akkadian  glossaries,  have 
stated  to  be  an  Akkadian  word  for  country,  and  which  Dr. 
Taylor  believes  can  be  recognised  in  Etruscan,  we  find  that  it 
exists  as  the  word  for  country  in  all  the  Finnic  languages. 
Thus,  even  if  scholars  are  convinced  that  in  Akkadian  it  ought 
to  to  be  read  as  Mat,  and  in  Proto-Medic  as  Murun — words 
which  were  known  to  Lenormant— it  still  appears  probable 
that  it  must  be  a  very  old  Altaic  word,  because  it  is  common  to 
so  many  Altaic  languages.  It  would,  therefore,  be  a  very 
valuable  word  to  recognise  in  Hittite  nomenclature,  if  it  can  be 
shown  that  in  Hittite  it  had  the  same  meaning.  I  venture  to 


144  CAPT.  C.  R.  CONDER. — Hiitite  Ethnology. 

say  that  if  these  valuable  geographical  lists  are  studied  on  this 
principle,  it  will  become  possible  to  show  in  a  convincing 
manner  that  the  Hittite  language  was  akin  to  the  languages  of 
Mesopotamia  and  of  Media,  at  least  in  possessing  these  simple 
roots  which  are  traceable,  hardly  changing,  in  existing  Altaic 
tongues. 

The  personal  and  geographical  names  also  give  some  evidence 
— as  has  been  shewn  by  Prof.  Suyce — of  the  grammar  of  the 
language.  The  genitive  appears,  at  least  in  many  cases,  to 
precede  the  nominative,  which  would  not  be  possible  in  a  Semitic 
language,  but  which  is  often  found  to  be  the  order  used  in 
Altaic  speech.  This  does  not  appear,  however,  to  have  been  an 
invariable  rule  in  Hittite,  if  we  are  to  acknowledge  the  cele- 
brated boss  of  Tarkondemos  as  Hittite.  On  that  boss  the 
genitive  appears  to  follow  the  nominative,  according  to  Prof. 
Sayce's  arrangement  of  the  symbols,  the  order  being  the  same 
found  in  Akkadian;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  tablet  of  Singasid  as 
read  by  Mr.  Pinches.  In  the  Proto-Medic  languages,  according 
to  Lenormaiit,  the  genitive  may  either  precede  or  may  follow 
the  nominative — possibly  then,  from  the  evidence  above  men- 
tioned, the  same  may  have  been  the  case  also  in  the  Hittite. 
There  is  not,  indeed,  any  evidence  that  the  Hittites  spoke 
Akkadian,  but  I  venture  to  think  that  there  is  considerable 
prima  facie  evidence  in  favour  of  their  language  having 
affinities  at  least  to  that  ancient  tongue,  evidence  quite 
sufficient  to  justify  further  research  on  such  a  supposition. 

The  third  branch  of  enquiry  is  that  which  concerns  the 
religion  of  the  Hittites,  and  concerning  this  we  may  gather  a 
great  deal  of  valuable  information,  both  from  the  Egyptian 
records,  from  the  name  lists  already  noticed,  and  from  sculptures 
and  gems  more  or  less  clearly  connected  with  the  Hittite  race. 
In  the  famous  treaty  with  Rameses  II,  the  Hittites  invoked  the 
gods,  and  especially  one  called  Sutekh,  with  the  rivers,  the 
mountains,  and  the  clouds,  the  winds,  and  the  sea.  No  less  than 
a  "  thousand  gods "  are  said  to  have  existed  in  the  Kittite 
country ;  and  this  I  suppose  may  be  taken  to  indicate  an  ani- 
mistic belief  like  that  which  gave  a  nymph^  to  every  stream,  a 
dryad  to  every  tree,  a  god  to  every  great  mountain,  among  the 
Greeks.  This  belief  in  numerous  spirits,  good  and  bad,  in  beni- 
h'cent  deities  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  ocean,  and  the  rivers, 
also  clearly  existed  among  the  ancient  Turanian  populations  of 
Media  and  of  Mesopotamia.  As  regards  Sutekh  or  Sut  (for 
Chabas  has  given  reasons  for  supposing  that  the  name  occurs  in 
both  forms),  he  has  been  generally  supposed  to  be  the  same  as 
the  god  Sut  or  Set,  who  from  an  early  period  was  worshipped 
also  in  Egypt.  His  name  does  not  appear  as  yet  to  have  been 


CAPT.  C.  E.  CONDER. — Hittite  Ethnology..  145 

found  among  those  of  gods  invoked  by  the  Akkadians,  though 
Lenormant  mentions  as  possible  a  connection  with  a  god  called 
Shita  among  the  Assyrians.  In  Phoanicia,  close  to  the  Hittite 
country,  several  gods,  originally  Akkadian,  appear  to  have  been 
adored  until  quite  late  historic  times.  Adonis  has  been  said  to 
be  the  same  as  Tammuz,  originally  an  Akkadian  god ;  and  Nergal 
is  perhaps  another  instance.  He  was  represented  with  a  lion's 
head,  and  his  portrait  occurs  on  a  bas  relief,  discovered  on  the 
Phoenician  coast,  while  his  name  is  known  in  connection  with  a 
Phoenician  settler  in  Greece.  Nergal,  however,  was  also  adored 
by  the  Semitic  race  of  Mesopotamia.  Quite  lately  in  Anatolia 
the  same  lion-headed  god  has  been  found  represented,  but  the 
bas  relief  bears  no  inscription,  except  a  possible  hieroglyph  above 
the  head,  which  represents  a  long-eared  animal,  perhaps  a  hare 
or  an  ass. 

The  representation  of  deities  at  Boghaz  Keui,  in  Cappadocia, 
may  also  throw  light  on  Hittite  religion.  Prof.  Sayce  considers 
that  the  Hittites  were  a  Cappadocian  people ;  and,  as  already 
noted,  the  sturdy  figures,  the  hairless  faces,  and  the  shoes,  serve 
to  connect  these  figures  both  with  the  Hittites,  and  also  with  the 
Etruscans. 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  all  the  figures  at  Boghaz  Keui 
are  to  be  considered  to  represent  gods,  although  the  invocation 
of  a  "  thousand  gods  "  by  the  Hittites  shows  that  there  is  no 
impossibility  in  their  having  represented  a  great  number  of 
deities  in  one  picture.  The  winged  figures  at  least,  both  in 
Cappadocia  and  also  at  Carchemish,  can  hardly  be  meant  for 
anything  but  divine  persons ;  and  I  think  the  same  will  be 
admitted  concerning  the  figures  standing  erect  on  the  backs  of 
lions.  In  Phoenicia  and  on  Greek  Asiatic  coins  gods  are  so 
represented,  and  in  Hindu  mythology  every  deity  has  his  appro- 
priate Vehan,  or  animal,  on  which  he  stands. 

At  Boghaz  Keui  the  winged  sun  is  sculptured  above  one  of 
the  chief  figures.  At  Eyuk  we  have  rude  representations  of 
sphinxes,  recalling  not  only  the  Egyptian  sphinx,  but  also 
similar  monsters  on  seals  from  Mesopotamia,  or  represented  in 
Etruria,  where  the  scarabeus  was  as  much  a  sacred  emblem  as 
in  Phoenicia  or  in  Egypt.  At  Ibreez  there  is  a  gigantic  figure, 
supposed  to  represent  a  god,  which  has/  a  horned  head-dress,  like 
that  which  the  water -god  Ea  wears  on  seals,  said  to  be  Baby- 
lonian or  Akkadian.  This  giant  in  curly-toed  shoes  and  a  short 
tunic,  like  that  of  the  Cappadociau  gods,  holds  in  one  hand  a 
vine,  in  the  other  a  long  stalk  of  corn-ears.  He  clearly  repre- 
sents a  god  of  corn  and  wine,  and  over  his  head  occurs  an 
inscription  in  what  is  now  known  as  Hittite  writing.  In  this 
case  curiously  enough  both  the  god  and  the  king  or  priest,  who 
VOL.  XVII.  L 


146  CAPT.  C.  E.  CONDER. — Hittite  Ethnology. 

approaches  him,  wear  beards  in  the  Phoenician  or  Greek  fashion, 
whereas  the  Cappadocian  figures  are  beardless.  The  general 
evidence  of  the  monuments  and  records,  seems  clearly  to  show 
that  the  Hittite  religion  must  have  been  of  the  same  character 
as  that  of  the  Egyptians,  Etruscans,  and  Akkadians,  consisting 
in  the  personification  of  natural  powers :  the  sun  and  moon,  the 
ocean,  the  earth,  with  genii  of  the  rivers  and  mountains,  the 
winds  and  clouds.  There  does  not  seem,  as  far  as  I  can  gather, 
any  evidence  of  their  having  worshipped  seven  planets,  nor  are 
the  stars  and  planets  invoked  in  the  treaty — these  were  the  gods 
of  the  Semitic  rather  than  of  the  Turanian  peoples  of  Western 
Asia. 

The'  female  figures  of  the  monuments  are  very  interesting. 
The  two  principal  types  as  found  at  Carchemish  and  at  Merash, 
represent,  the  one  a  naked  goddess  "with  her  hands  supporting 
her  breasts,  the  other  a  mother  goddess  with  a  child  on  her 
knees.  Both  these  figures  are  widely  found  all  over  Asia.  At 
Carchemish,  the  naked  goddess  has  wings.  At  Troy,  and 
recently  in  Mesopotamia,  this  figure  occurs.  I  have  seen  a 
pottery  representation  of  the  same  goddess  in  the  same  attitude 
found  at  Gezer  in  Philistia,  and  the  figure  is  common  in 
Phoenicia  and  in  Cyprus.  A  Hindu  goddess  is  represented  in 
the  same  attitude,  pressing  streams  of  milk  from  her  breasts  to 
nourish  creation. 

The  group  of  the  mother  and  child  is  equally  widely  spread. 
In  India,  Krishna  and  Devaki;  in  Babylonia,  the  mother 
goddess  Nana ;  in  Egypt,  Isis  with  the  infant  Horus ;  in  Italy, 
Lucina  with  her  child,  represent  the  same  group,  which 
Lenormant  traces  in  many  other  cases.  The  Merash  repre- 
sentation is  extremely  rude,  but  it  shews  that  the  same  mother 
goddess  and  child  were  also  worshipped  in  the  Hittite  country. 
So  far  then  the  evidence  of  the  sculptures  shews  nothing  very 
distinctive  in  Hittite  religion,  although  the  absence  of  the  stars 
and  planets  from  the  enumeration  of  their  thousand  gods  seems 
io  shew  their  non-Semitic  race. 

The  monuments  naturally  tell  us  less  of  the  demonology  than 
of  the  worship  of  the  Hittites,  yet  even  on  this  question  some 
light  is  thrown.  The  belief  in  innumerable  demons,  common  to 
all  Asiatics,  was  a  prominent  feature  in  the  religion  of  Akka- 
dians and  Etruscans.  A  cylinder  found  in  Lydia,  at  Aidin, 
shews  in  the  centre  a  two-headed  god.  In  his  right  hand  he 
holds  a  cross  towards  three  worshippers  ;  in  his  left,  what  looks 
like  a  whip  towards  two  representations  of  demons  who  are 
fighting  each  other,  with  two  hieroglyphics  above  them.  In  the 
Akkadian  magical  texts  we  have  many  occurrences  of  this  idea. 
The  charms  of  the  priests  were  supposed  to  breed  discord  be- 


CAPT.  C.  R.  CONDEE. — Hittite  Ethnology.  147 

tween  the  demons,  who  were  thus  unable  to  unite  their  forces 
against  mankind.  There  are  several  other  curious  figures  on 
this  cylinder,  one  being  that  of  a  god  seated  on  a  mountain  and 
flanked  by  human  figures  with  eagle's  heads.  Under  his  feet  is 
a  deer  which  seems  to  be  his  emblem.  This,  perhaps,  connects 
him  with  Dara  ("  the  deer ")  one  of  the  names  of  the  Akka- 
dian god  Ea,  possibly  connected  with  the  Esthonian  and 
Etruscan  word  Tara,  for  "  God,"  and  thus  with  the  deity  called 
Tar,  in  Asia  Minor. 

On  a  very  remarkable  bronze  plaque  from  Palmyra,  the  two 
demons  tearing  each  other  are  again  represented  ;  and  in  Etruria 
we  have  representations  of  good  spirits  painted  red,  aud  demons 
coloured  black. 

If  it  be  granted  on  these  various  grounds  of  physiognomical, 
religious,  and  linguistic  connection  that  the  Hittites  were  a 
Turanian  and  probably  an  Altaic  race — and  these  suppositions 
I  have  not  seen  seriously  controverted  of  late  by  any  who  have 
given  special  attention  to  the  subject,  we  are  able  to  form  some 
idea  of  the  probable  customs  of  the  race  in  remarkable  and 
distinctive  peculiarities,  concerning  birth,  marriage,  death, 
dress,  war,  and  the  arts  and  manufactures.  The  records  and 
the  monuments  both  throw  light,  more  or  less,  on  all  these 
questions. 

The  social  manners  of  the  Turanians  are  very  astonishing  in 
our  eyes.  The  extraordinary  custom  of  the  Couvade  appears  to 
have  originated  among  them.  We  hear  nothing  of  it  among 
Semitic  people,  but  it  existed  among  the  Basques  ;  Strabo 
mentions  it  among  the  Iberians ;  and  Marco  Polo  found  it  in 
China.  It  has  been  traced  by  Tylor  and  by  Colonel  Yule  in  many 
other  countries.  According  to  this  custom,  no  sooner  was  a 
child  born  than  the  father  was  obliged  to  go  to  his  bed,  and  was 
fed  on  special  diet,  apparently  from  some  dim  idea  that  any 
illness  due  to  over-exertion  or  exposure  of  the  father  would  also 
affect  the  infant.  We  do  not,  indeed,  know  of  this  custom 
among  the  Akkadians  or  the  Hittites ;  but  it  certainly  prevailed 
among  some  Altaic  peoples,  Apollonius  Bhodius  (as  quoted  by 
Colonel  Yule)  refers  to  the  Couvade  among  the  Tibareni  in 
Pontus. 

The  marriage  customs  of  the  early  Turanians  were  equally 
curious.  Dr.  Taylor  gives  some  evidence  in  favour  of  the 
supposition  that  the  Etruscans  traced  descent  in  the  female  line, 
not  in  the  male ;  which  also  was  the  custom  of  the  population 
(probably  non-Semitic)  of  the  south  of  Arabia  in  Strabo's  time. 
This  custom  is  closely  connected  with  the  practices  of  exogamy 
and  of  polyandry  among  Turanian  peoples.  According  to  the 
polyandrous  custom,  a  woman  was  recognised  as  having  two, 

L  2 


148  CAPT.  C.  E.  CONDER. — Hittitc  Ethnology. 

three,  or  more  husbands — as  is  still  the  practice  of  many  tribes 
in  India,  and  further  north.  Exogamy,  as  Dr.  Taylor  points 
out,  was  probably  connected  with  polyandry,  since  the  only  way 
by  which  a  man  could  obtain  exclusive  right  to  a  wife  among 
polyandrous  tribes  was  by  purchasing  or  capturing  one  from 
another  tribe.  The  Etruscans  appear  to  have  been  exogamous, 
and  the  Hittites.  according  to  the  Bible,  married  out  of  their 
own  tribe — at  least  in  the  case  of  the  women. 

As  regards  the  disposal  of  the  dead,  it  is  certain  that  many  at 
least  of  the  Turanian  peoples  used  to  burn  instead  of  burying. 
The  Semitic  people  seem,  historically,  to  have  been  always  a 
burying  people.  The  custom  of  burning  the  dead,  which  can  be 
traced  from  Britain  on  the  west  to  China  on  the  east,  was 
originally  the  usual  practice  among  all  the  Finnic  peoples.  The 
late  George  Smith  was,  I  believe,  the  first  to  point  out  that  the 
Akkadians  were  probably  a  people  who  did  not  bury,  but 
burned  the  dead.  Dr.  Taylor  is  of  opinion  that  the  earlier 
Etruscans  burned  the  dead,  and  only  buried  in  later  times.  The 
Aryan  tribes  seem  to  have  had  both  practices  ;  the  later  Medes 
and  Persians  had  the  yet  more  extraordinary  custom  of  exposing 
the  dead  to  be  eaten  by  dogs  and  birds,  as  Herodotus  states,  and 
as  we  find  from  the  Zendavesta  to  have  been  inculcated  in  the 
Zoroastrian  creed.  If  the  Hittites  resembled  the  Akkadians  or 
the  Etruscans,  it  would  seem,  therefore,  most  probable  that  they 
were  a  burning  people,  and  we  should  hardly  expect  to  find 
tombs  like  those  of  the  Phoanicians,  or  mummies  like  the 
"^Vyptian  mummies,  or  even  tumuli  such  as  those  in  which  some 
British,  Greek,  and  Scythian  tribes  interred  the  corpses  of  their 
chiefs. 

I  should  note  that  an  interesting  paper  on  the  subject  of  such 
burning  of  the  dead  among  the  Akkadians  has  lately  been  pub- 
lished by  M.  Bertin,  who  has  given  strong  confirmatory  evidence 
of  the  practice  from  cuneiform  records. 

It  would  be,  perhaps,  not  prudent  to  inquire  if  the  Hittites 
drank  Koumis,  or  fermented  mare's  milk,  but  of  the  antiquity 
of  that  custom  among  Turanians,  we  have  evidence  in  Herodotus. 
The  Hittites  were,  at  least,  a  great  horse-breeding  people,  and 
used  numerous  chariots  in  time  of  war.  Mr.  Houghton  believes 
that  Media  and  Armenia  are  the  home  of  the  horse,  and  the 
Kurdish  and  Turkoman  horsemen  are  still  famous.  In  Syria,  a 
great  number  of  horses  are  still  imported  from  this  same  part  of 
Asia. 

From  the  monuments  we  obtain  clear  indications  of  the 
Hittite  arms  and  armour.  They  used  the  bow,  the  spear,  the 
javelin,  the  double-headed  celt  or  axe.  They  had  short,  broad 
swords  like  that  still  in  use  amonor  the  wilder  Arabs.  The 


CAPT,  C.  R.  CONDEE. — Hittite  Ethnology.  149 

figures  in  some  cases  have  what  may  be  taken  for  a  whip,  like 
the  modern  kourbach,  in  their  hands.  A  square  buckler  is 
represented  covering  one  of  the  chiefs  in  his  war  chariot.  The 
quiver  was,  no  doubt,  slung  at  the  chariot  side  as  among 
Egyptians  and  Assyrians.  In  addition  to  these  weapons  a  short 
club  with  a  round  head  is  often  represented — a  kind  of  sceptre, 
perhaps,  and  not  unlike  the  dabbus  club  still  carried  by  the 
peasantry  of  Palestine.  The  sceptres  borne  by  the  gods  at 
Boghaz  Keui,  are  sometimes  surmounted  by  a  globe,  in  other 
cases  they  seem  to  be  intended  to  represent  flowering  rods  like 
that  which  occurs  in  the  hand  of  one  of  the  great  figures  in  the 
British  Museum. 

The  most  distinctive  peculiarities  of  dress  among  the  tribes 
under  consideration,  are,  the  high  cap,  or  tiara,  which  resembles 
very  closely  that  worn  by  Moslem  dervishes  in  our  own  times ; 
the  curly-toed  boots  or  shoes  already  mentioned,  and  found  to 
distinguish  the  Hittites  on  the  bas  reliefs  of  Karnak ;  and  the 
short  tunics  of  the  male  figures.  The  goddesses  wear  long 
dresses  represented  with  many  vertical  folds,  and  a  high  bonnet, 
which  is  very  much  like  that  of  the  Bethlehem  peasant  women. 
A  round  skull-cap  and  an  ample  cloak  are  also  found  on  some 
male  figures. 

As  regards  the  political  constitution  of  the  Hittite  tribes, 
and  their  laws  and  civilisation,  something  may  be  gathered 
from  both  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  sources.  Thus  it  appears 
that  there  were  numerous  chiefs  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  but  how  far  these  were  independent  or  acknowledged 
one  "  great  king "  seems  to  be  matter  for  further  inquiry. 
Thus  much  we  know  that  a  great  federation  was  arranged  in 
face  of  Egyptian  aggression,  and  that  Kameses  and  his  pre- 
decessors apparently  recognised  the  ruler  of  Kadesh  as  the 
principal  Hittite  king.  It  seems  probable  that  as  among  other 
Orientals  the  actual  political  situation  depended  on  the  per- 
sonality of  the  ruler,  and  that  the  combinations  were  continually 
altering,  as  among  Arabs,  Kaffirs,  Afghans,  or  any  other  wild 
and  disunited  peoples.  The  celebrated  treaty  between  Kheta- 
Sar  and  Rameses,  which  was  engraved  on  a  silver  plate,  recog- 
nises various  grades  of  society.  The  Hittites  had  chiefs  and 
slaves,  but  also  skilled  workmen,  whose  labours  were  in  request 
in  Egypt,  and  they  admitted  Egyptian  craftsmen  into  their 
country.  In  fact,  the  extended  trade  relations  between  Meso- 
potamia, Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  Egypt,  which  can  be  traced  back 
earlier  that  1600  B.C.,  give  us  an  idea  of  the  civilisation  of  the 
west  of  Asia,  which  would  hardly  be  suspected  if  we  confined 
our  attention  to  records  of  fleeting  conquests  which  constitute 
the  political  history  of  the  time. 


150  CAPT.  C.  E.  CONDER. — Hittite  Ethnology. 

As  regards  architecture,  we  have  a  representation  of  the  city 
of  Kadesh,  which  shews  that  in  the  14th  century  B.C.,  the 
Hittites  must  have  advanced  far  in  this  art.  A  town  with  high 
walls  and  numerous  towers  is  represented  from  which  the  bow- 
men discharge  their  arrows.  A  double  moat  surrounds  it,  and 
bridges  or  causeways  lead  over  the  water.  To  the  present  day 
there  are  remains  of  this  moat  surrounding  the  great  mound  at 
the  ruin  of  Kades,  which  I  proposed,  in  1881,  to  identify  with 
the  Hittite  capital — an  identification  which  I  now  find  to  be 
very  generally  accepted,  since  it  has  survived  the  criticism 
levelled  against  it.  We  do  not  know  much  as  yet  about  Hittite 
temples ;  and  the  representations  of  the  gods  are  often  cut  only 
on  rocks  beside  rivers ;  but  I  believe  that  at  Ibreez  one  of  the 
hiaroglyphic  signs  may  be  taken  to  represent  an  oblong  building 
with  an  inner  enclosure  or  shrine  resembling  the  form  of 
temple  known  among  the  Akkadians  and  Egyptians,  and  also 
among  the  Hebrews  from  Solomon  to  Herod,  as  well  as  among 
the  Greeks.  The  high  mounds  on  which  the  Hittite  towns 
stood — like  the  cities  of  Mesopotamia  and  of  Palestine — were 
apparently  faced  with  stone,  forming  terraces ;  and  the  supporting 
slabs  were  sculptured  with  various  designs.  In  one  instance  in 
Asia  Minor  the  chase  of  the  stag,  and  of  the  hind,  by  a  bowman, 
is  so  represented  with  a  winged,  ramping  gryphon.  In  another 
case  the  lion-headed  god  occurs,  holding  a  fawn  or  a  hare  in  one 
hand,  and  a  sword  in  the  other — the  same  figure  already 
known  in  Phoenicia,  and  also  in  Cappadocia.  Perhaps,  however, 
the  most  distinctive  of  the  Hittite  and  Cappadocian  figures  is 
the  doubled  headed  eagle  found  at  Boghaz  Keui  and  at  Eyuk, 
which  has  been  pointed  out  to  be  an  Altaic  symbol  used  in  the 
middle  ages  by  the  Seljuks,  and  also  adopted  by  the  Franks, 
so  that  to  our  own  times  it  survives  in  the  arms  of  the  Austrian 
and  Russian  emperors.  It  appears  fairly  certain  that  the  walls 
and  entrances  of  the  Hittite  temples  and  palaces  must  have 
been  adorned  with  bas  reliefs  and  hieroglyphic  inscriptions,  just 
as  statues  of  the  gods  flanked  the  doors  of  Assyrian  and  of 
Akkadian  buildings,  or  covered  the  pylons  of  Egyptian  temples. 
At  Merash,  a  lion  covered  with  hieroglyphics  in  front  and 
on  the  left  flank  was  evidently  intended  as  a  corner  stone,  and 
one  of  the  Hamath  stones  inscribed  at  one  end  and  on  one  side 
was  in  like  manner  intended  for  a  corner  position. 

That  the  Hittites  possessed  the  art  of  writing  is  thought  to  be 
shewn  by  the  mention  of  a  Hittite  scribe  in  an  Egyptian  record  ; 
and  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  hieroglyphic  texts  found  at 
Hamath  and  at  Carchemish  represent  the  script  employed. 

It  is  also  now  generally  agreed  that  the  syllabic  sounds  of 
what  has  been  called  the  Asianic  syllabary  stand  to  these 


CAPT.  C.  R.  CONDER. — Hittite  Ethnology.  151 

hieroglyphics  in  the  relation  of  the  hieratic  to  the  hieroglyphic 
in  Egypt,  so  that  from  the  known  sounds  of  this  syllabary  as 
deciphered  in  Cyprus,  in  Caria,  in  Syria,  and  in  Egypt  it  may 
be  possible  to  recover  one  sound  at  least  which  attached  to  the 
corresponding  original  Hittite  ideogram  of  the  monuments. 

As  regards  the  data  of  these  hieroglyphic  texts  there  appears 
to  be  some  doubt.  Some  authorities  regard  them  as  belonging 
to  the  latest  times  of  Hittite  rule  but  since  in  various  cases  we 
find  the  emblems  to  be  much  more  or  much  less  conven- 
tionalised it  seems  clear  that  a  long  period  of  time  must  have 
elapsed  during  which  they  were  constantly  in  use.  Thus  the 
inscribed  bowl  discovered  in  Babylon  bears  figures  much  more 
like  those  of  the  syllabaries  than  are  any  found  on  the  bas  reliefs 
of  Carchemish  and  of  Hamath.  The  monuments  on  which  the 
emblems  are  in  relief  must  be  considered  probably  to  be  older 
than  those  where  the  figures  are  cut  in.  In  Egypt  the  oldest 
hieroglyphics  in  the  Boulak  Musaeum  are  in  bold  relief,  but  by 
the  time  of  Rameses  II  they  appear  to  have  been  in  intaglio. 
The  syllabaries  went  out  of  use  apparently  about  the  time  of  the 
Greek  conquest  of  Asia  under  Alexander  the  Great,  and  the 
hieroglyphic  must  be  much  older  than  the  derived  syllabic 
signs. 

There  is  at  least  one  case  where  we  may  obtain  some  idea  of 
the  date  of  a  hieroglyphic  text  of  the  same  general  character 
with  those  of  the  Hittites,  viz.,  on  the  statue  of  Niobe  on  Mount 
Sipylus.  Here  we  have  the  older  emblems  in  relief  and  the 
cartouche  of  Rameses  II  cut  in  on  the  field  of  the  bas  relief. 
It  seems  clear  that  the  cartouche  is  therefore  later  than  the 
original  work  and  the  native  hieroglyphics  in  this  case  appear 
consequently  to  be  older  than  1340  B.C.  It  appears  to  me  that 
without  any  improbability  we  may  therefore  assign  the  Hamath 
and  Carchemish  stones  to  the  best  period  of  Hittite  civilisation, 
when  the  Hittites  were  recognised  by  the  Egyptians  as  a  great 
civilised  power,  and  when  we  know  them  to  have  already 
possessed  scribes  attached  to  their  kings. 

Now  it  will  not  I  think  be  disputed  that  the  existence  of  a 
hieroglyphic  script  among  these  peoples  agrees  with  the  aggluti- 
native character  of  their  language.  This  appears  to  be  an 
invariable  rule.  The  character  and  the  speech  go  together,  and 
as  the  speech  develops  so  does  the  script  become  more  con- 
ventional. The  earliest  attempt  at  recording  human  events  or 
human  hopes  took  the  form  of  picture  writing,  like  that  of 
European  Cave-men  or  of  North  American  Indians,  or  of  the 
Bushmen,  whose  pictures  cover  the  rocks  in  South  Africa.  The 
hieroglyph  is  only  a  step  beyond  the  pure  picture,  just  as  the 
earliest  agglutinative  language  is  only  a  step  beyond  the  mono- 


152  CAPT.  C.  B,  CONDER. — Hittite  Ethnology. 

syllabic  stage,  when 'as  yet  grammar  has  hardly  any  existence. 
As  the  idea  of  the  male  became  the  abstraction  of  the  personal 
pronoun,  so  did  the  hieroglyphic  representing  the  male  become  also 
the  sign  for  "  he  ; "  and,  as  in  Chinese,  the  noun  for  "  interior  " 
became  the  locative  sign,  so  did  every  other  grammatical  sign 
develop  from  a  root  once  a  noun  or  a  verb.  This  is  laid  down 
by  so  many  great  authorities  as  to  serve  for  a  safe  basis  in  con- 
sidering ancient  written  systems.  When  language  advances  to 
the  inflexional  stage  the  hieroglyphic  becomes  unsuitable  to 
express  the  sounds,  and  the  syllabary  becomes  a  necessity.  To 
carry  the  comparison  yet  further,  the  most  perfectly  inflected 
languages,  the  small  Semitic  group,  belong  exactly  to  those 
people  who  first  employed  the  most  abstract  of  human  methods 
of  recording  sounds  by  inventing,  or  rather  by  developing,  the 
Phoanician  alphabet,  whence  in  turn  all  the  alphabets  of  Asia 
and  of  Europe  have  grown  up. 

There  is,  therefore,  good  reason  to  suppose  that  a  simple, 
almost  pictorial  system  must  belong  to  a  simple  and  early 
agglutinative  language.  We  know  of  Semitic  peoples  who  used 
syllabaries,  as  did  Aryan  races,  but  the  hieroglyphic  system  of 
Egypt  belong  to  a  language  of  much  more  primitive  character. 
The  fact  that  the  Hittites  used  hieroglyphs,  the  majority  of 
which  are  unmistakeable  pictures  of  natural  objects,  or  of  manu- 
factured objects,  though  interspersed  with  other  signs  which 
appear  already  to  have  become  conventionalised,  agrees  well 
with  the  supposition  that  their  language  was  a  simple  aggluti- 
native tongue  like  that  of  the  Etruscans. 

It  has  been  shown  by  Lenormant,  and  by  other  writers,  that 
the  various  known  dialects  of  Mesopotamia,  Media,  and  Elam, 
though  differing  considerably  from  each  other,  and  belonging  to 
very  different  historic  periods,  yet  have  in  common  much,  both  in 
structure  and  in  vocabulary,  which  connects  them  to  each  other, 
and  also  connects  them  with  living  Altaic  tongues.  The  same 
has  been  found  as  before  said  to  be  the  case  with  Etruscan, 
which  is  connected  on  the  one  hand  with  Akkadian,  and  on  the 
other  with  Finnic  dialects.  The  Akkadian  is  far  the  oldest  of 
these  languages  of  the  western  Turanians.  It  is  said  by  scholars 
to  have  become  extinct  in  Chaldea  in  1500  B.C.,  although  it  may 
have  survived  longer  in  parts  more  remote  from  the  advancing 
tide  of  south  Semitic  immigration.  Lenormant  in  Akkadian, 
Prof.  Isaac  Taylor  in  Etruscan,  have  shown  how  the  mono- 
syllabic roots  recognised  in  those  languages  may  be  traced  with 
but  slight  variation  through  a  number  of  Finnic  and  Turkic 
languages  of  our  own  times.  These  roots  are  acknowledged  to 
be  the  oldest  elements  of  Turanian  speech,  and  although  we 
have  not  as  yet  (as  in  Aryan  tongues)  a  Grimm's  law  laid  down 


CAPT.  C.  E.  COXDEK. — Hittite  Ethnology.  153 

to  rule  the  variations  of  sound,  still  there  appears  to  be  in 
Altaic  speech  a  less  degree  of  variation  than  in  Aryan  lan- 
guages. 

Now  as  already  noticed  the  occurrence  of  the  words  Tar,  Sar, 
Nazi,  &c.,  in  the  names  of  Hittite  kings  leads  naturally  to  the 
inquiry  whether  other  such  simple  roots,  common  to  various 
ancient  and  modern  Altaic  tongues  may  not  also  be  discover- 
able in  Hittite  inscriptions.  The  syllabaries  derived  from  the 
hieroglyphs  give  us  the  means  of  obtaining  sounds,  and  these 
sounds  may  be  compared  both  with  Akkadian  sounds,  and  also 
with  sounds  in  living  speech. 

As  regards  the  cuneiform  sounds  the  question  is  extremely 
difficult  because  the  progress  of  cuneiform  learning  constantly 
leads  to  the  proposal  of  new  readings  for  the  Akkadian  emblems ; 
but  as  regards  living  languages  it  is  often  possible  to  shew  that 
an  old  monosyllabic  root,  known  as  an  Akkadian  sound,  has 
survived  unchanged  in  many  Altaic  languages.  It  appears  for 
instance  that  Ma  for  country  must  be  a  very  old  word,  and 
Lenormant  may  have  been  right  in  saying  it  was  an  Akkadian 
word  as  previously  explained.  I  believe  that  on  the  celebrated 
Hittite  bilingual  the  emblem  for  "  country"  can  be  shewn  to 
have  the  value  Me  or  Ma  by  aid  of  the  Carian  and  Cypriote 
syllabaries,  where  this  emblem — a  double  peaked  mountain — has 
preserved  such  a  phonetic  value. 

The  recovery  of  these  old  monosyllabic  sounds  will  of  course 
only  give  us  a  vague  general  idea  of  Hittite  language.  It  is  on 
the  grammar  much  more  than  on  the  vocabulary  that  the 
classification  of  the  language  must  depend.  This  is  stated  by 
Max  Miiller  and  by  others ;  and  it  is  recognised  by  Lenormant 
and  by  many  other  scholars  that  the  older  tongues  of  Chaldea 
are  distinguished  from  modern  languages  of  the  Altaic  group  by 
the  structure  of  their  grammar.  I  do  not  think  it  will  prove 
that  the  Hittites  spoke  Akkadian.  The  long  words  and  com- 
plicated sentences  which  scholars  of  Akkadian  give  in  their 
glossaries  and  in  their  translations,  represent  a  language  where 
the  incorporation  of  a  great  many  syllables  with  the  old  noun 
and  verb  roots  is  recognised.  The  general  arrangement  of  the 
emblems  on  the  Hittite  texts  does  not  suggest  quite  such  an 
elaborate  system  of  incorporation,  and  the  Etruscan  epitaphs 
appear  to  indicate  a  simpler  form  of  speech. 

But  it  is  nevertheless  possible  that  the  roots  may  be  found  in 
Akkadian  and  that  the  comparison  with  living  languages  may 
thus  be  justified,  by  shewing  the  possible  antiquity  of  the  words 
represented  by  the  Cypriote  syllables.  In  studying  Hittite  we 
have  at  least  this  remarkable  advantage  over  the  cuneiform  that 
the  pictorial  meaning  of  the  majority  of  the  emblems  is  easily 


154  CAPT.  C.  R  CONDER. — Hittite  Ethnology : 

recognised  ;  thus  serving  as  a  check  on  the  word  supposed  to  be 
represented  by  the  sound  of  the  derived  syllabic  emblem.  Of 
course  each  emblem  Tray  have  had  many  names  in  Hittite,  as 
each  emblem  in  cuneiform  also  was  connected  with  many  sounds. 
If  we  see  a  king's  head  on  a  coin  we  may  call  it  "  monarch," 
"  ruler,"  or  "  sovereign,"  but  this  does  not  disprove  the  existence 
of  the  old  word  "  king,"  which,  if  independently  proved  to  exist, 
may  equally  well  be  applied  to  the  image.  Thus  the  Hittite 
emblems  were  no  doubt  polyphones  ;  but  one  out  of  many  possible 
sounds,  namely,  a  monosyllabic  word,  is  preserved  for  us,  probably 
by  the  syllabaries. 

It  appears  to  me  that  these  are  the  principles  on  which  we 
should  study  Hittite  inscriptions.  I  will  not  attempt  to  defend 
my  own  tentative  work  in  this  direction.  I  am  prepared  to 
abandon  anything  that  may  be  shewn  untenable  by  competent 
authority  in  either  words,  grammar,  or  subject;  but  the  first 
question  appears  to  be  the  settlement  of  the  principle  on  which 
to  work.  The  Hittites  have  been  thought  by  some  to  have  been 
Semitic,  and  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  read  these 
inscriptions  as  Semitic,  and  as  either  letters  of  the  alphabet  or 
letters  and  determinatives  mingled.  I  think  all  such  attempts 
must  fail.  We  know  already  of  100  to  130  Hittite  signs,  a  fact 
which  indicates  syllables  rather  than  letters.  Nor  as  far  as  I  am 
aware  have  we  any  instance  in  which  a  real  letter  (as  dis- 
tinguished from  a  syllable)  has  ever  been  found  in  use  in  a 
system  including  true  determinatives.  The  Hittite  language 
has  also  been  thought  to  have  a  possible  connection  with 
Georgian — a  rude,  inflexional  language — but  since  Georgian  has 
not  as  yet  been  shewn  to  throw  any  light  on  the  bilingual,  this 
connection  can  hardly  as  yet  be  considered  to  be  demonstrated. 
The  first  important  matter  is  to  attain  to  an  agreement  as  to  the 
general  principles  on  which  the  sounds  and  structure  of  the 
Hittite  language  are  to  be  studied. 

In  concluding  this  general  sketch  of  Hittite  ethnology  some- 
thing may  be  said  as  to  the  arts  of  metallurgy  and  of  engraving 
gems. 

The  Hittite  chariots  were  plated  with  gold  and  silver,  the 
treaty  was  engraved  on  a  silver  plate,  the  bilingual  itself  is  on  a 
silver  boss.  The  use  of  the  precious  metals  was  not  indeed 
peculiar  to  the  race,  since  Akkadians,  Phoenicians,  prehistoric 
Greeks,  and  later  Babylonians  and  Hebrews  employed  them  in 
like  manner  to  decorate  houses  and  temples,  and  to  adorn  their 
persons ;  but  the  practice  of  metallurgy  may,  perhaps,  also 
indicate  a  Turanian  people  coming  from  the  mountains  near 
the  Caspian,  where  such  ores  were  found.  The  Akkadians 
very  early  understood  the  art  of  alloying  copper  with  tin. 


Discussion.  155 

Bronze  vases  were  captured  ir.  Syria  by  Thothmes  III,  and  the 
Etruscan  bronzes  are  as  well  known  as  those  of  Phoenicia.  The 
beautiful  forms  of  the  metal  utensils  brought  to  Thothmes  III 
by  the  Syrians  in  tribute,  shews  an  advanced  state  of  art  in 
Western  Asia  in  1600  B.C.,  and  we  may  hope  to  recover  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  perhaps  in  Syria,  more  hieroglyphic  texts,  and 
perhaps  the  much  needed  bilingual  (which  alone  can  set  every 
doubt  at  rest)  preserved  in  bronze,  or  in  more  precious  metal. 

As  regards  the  art  of  engraving  gems,  this  also  was  common 
to  Akkadians,  Babylonians,  Phoenicians,  and  probably  Hittites. 
It  seems  to  me  often  very  difficult  to  feel  certain  as  to  the 
origin  of  seals,  cylinders,  and  gems,  which  are  confidently  called 
Hittite,  in  cases  where  there  are  no  hieroglyphic  signs  to 
indicate  their  derivation.  Seals  from  Cappadocia  and  Lydia 
might,  perhaps,  in  many  cases,  be  attributed  to  Altaic  tribes 
akin  to  Hittites ;  in  other  cases  they  may  be  of  Semitic  origin. 
The  curly-toed  boot,  or  the  tiara,  are  not  in  themselves  sufficient 
evidence  to  convince  the  world  in  general.  But  on  the  other 
hand  important  indications  of  religious  belief,  and  in  a  few 
cases,  even  probable  hieroglyphics,  have  already  been  brought  to 
light  by  study  of  these  seals ;  and  it  appears  probable  that  yet 
more  information  may  be  obtained  from  the  same  sources. 

I  trust,  then,  that  the  present  sketch  of  an  interesting  subject 
may  be  sufficient  to  shew,  first,  that  the  existence  of  Hittite 
archaeological  materials  is  no  mere  dream  of  the  antiquary  ;  and 
secondly,  that  there  are  strong  reasons  for  regarding  the  Hittites  as 
a  Turanian  people,  and  as  akin  to  the  Turanian  races  of  Media,, 
Asia  Minor,  Mesopotamia,  and  Italy. 

DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  BERTIN  said  that  Captain  Conder's  interesting  and  exhaustive 
paper  raised  too  many  questions  to  be  done  justice  to  in  a  few 
remarks.  He  had  made  a  great  step,  but  he  must  be  careful  not  to 
accept  too  easily  statements  made  by  others  "without  any  sound 
ground,  as,  for  instance,  the  existence  of  a  black  population  in 
Susiana ;  the  common  customs  and  the  similar  religion  of  two 
peoples  only  show  intercourse,  and  not  necessarily  racial  relation- 
ship. One  of  the  most  important  points  brought  out  by  Captain 
Conder,  if  ultimately  proved,  is  the  Turanian  origin  of  the  writers 
of  these  inscriptions.  Mr.  S.  Poole  had  on  a  previous  occasion 
shown  that  the  invaders  of  Egypt,  the  Shepherds,  were  Turanian, 
and  that  their  national  god  we  know  was  Set ;  Captain  Conder  is 
believed  to  have  found  this  same  name  among  the  Hittite  gods 
(the  name  Hittites  is  still  provisional) ;  and  as  on  the  other  hand  the 
Assyrian  sculptural  monuments  show  in  Syria  a  non-Semitic 
population  by  the  side  of  the  Semites,  there  is  likeliness  in  the 


156  Discussion. 

possible  Turanian  origin  of  this  so-called  Hittite  population.  The 
Semites  in  the  Jewish  and  Phoenician  kingdoms  may  have  com- 
posed perhaps  a  kind  of  aristocracy  and  have  been  in  a  minority. 
Mr.  Bertin  concluded  his  remarks  by  expressing  the  hope  that  Cap- 
tain Conder  would  soon  publish  the  inscriptions  with  the  characters, 
his  transcription  and  analysis. 

Mr.  HYDE  CLARKE  congratulated  the  Institute  on  this  subject 
having  again  been  brought  forward,  for  it  was  to  the  Institute  that 
the  Hamath  sculptures  were  first  made  known  by  their  colleague,  Sir 
Richard  Burton,  and  their  character  as  inscriptions  was  determined 
by  himself.  Since  then  that  identification  had  been  generally  ad- 
mitted, and  many  had  devoted  themselves  to  the  study.  To  their 
old  colleague,  the  Rev.  Dunbar  Heath,  much  was  owing  for  his  in- 
genious establishment  of  the  parallel  passages.  The  members 
therefore  welcomed  Captain  Conder,  who  had  devoted  himself 
zealously  and  ardently  to  the  undertaking,  and  it  was  to  be  hoped 
he  would  ultimately  achieve  the  same  success  as  had  attended  him 
in  so  many  years  of  research  in  Palestine.  For  himself  it  was  a 
matter  of  gratification  to  find  so  much  of  his  early  labour  accepted 
and  established.  Before  the  Hamath  epoch  until  now  he  had  for 
thirty  years  been  engaged  on  the  examination  of  the  question  of  the 
earliest  populations  of  Asia  Minor,  on  which  the  journals  of  their 
two  original  societies,  the  Ethnological  and  the  Anthropological, 
contained  several  papers  by  him.  That  these  populations  were 
Turanian  was  an  early  datum  of  his,  and  he  had  in  connection 
examined  the  relations  of  the  Georgian  language  as  well  as  others. 
The  inscriptions  and  the  boss  of  Tarkondemos  he  had  in  company 
with  Mr.  Svoboda,  the  traveller  and  painter,  then  present,  ex- 
amined before  it  was  known  they  belonged  to  the  Hamath,  or,  as 
now  called,  Khita,  group.  Through  Mr.  Svoboda  he  had  obtained 
the  first  accurate  delineation  of  the  pseudo  Sesostris,  near  Ninfi, 
and  he  had  ascertained  the  existence  on  it  of  characters  non- 
Egyptian,  although  M.  Renan  contested  his  decision.  He  had 
also  published  this  in  his  edition  of  Murray's  handbook.  With 
regard  to  the  term  Hittite  he  considered  it  inappropriate  and  cal- 
culated to  lead  the  public  astray  in  an  inquiry  which  embraced 
not  only  Canaan,  but  Asia  Minor  and  Etruria,  and  even  beyond. 
It  was  curious  that  there  were  Hittite  names,  as  he  had  shewn  in 
1871,  which  admitted  of  a  Georgian  form.  The  ideographic  form 
of  Khita  as  glossed  by  the  boss  was,  however,  different,  and  he 
could  not  concur  with  Captain  Conder  that  Akkad  was  there  to 
be  applied.  It  was  not  impossible  that  Khita  inscriptions  could 
be  read  in  Akkad,  for  he  concurred  with  M.  Georges  Perrot,  a 
great  discoverer  of  Khita  monuments,  that  the  inscriptions 
could  probably  be  read  in  some  six  or  seven  languages,  and 
of  these  he  had  published  forms.  Captain  Conder  adopted  a 
correct  mode  in  proposing  a  careful  comparison  of  the  paleo- 
graphy and  of  the  languages.  To  shew  that  the  characters 
in  Khita  were  descended  from  original  ideographs,  he  produced 
some  diagrams  showing  the  distribution  of  characters  in  identical 


Discussion.  157 

forms,  so  far  off  on  one  side  as  Western  China,  and  on  the  other 
as  Western  Africa.  He  also  exhibited  diagrams  of  the  boss  of 
Tarkondemos,  and  of  a  corresponding  form  from  Carchemish,  and 
he  stated  that  the  first  two  characters,  as  deciphered  by  him,  could 
readily  be  identified  on  the  coins  of  Sardis  and  other  places. 
Therefore  the  decipherment  must  be  carried  out  as  that  which  he 
had  discovered  of  the  corresponding  languages.  As  far  back  as 
his  first  communication  on  the  Hamath  characters  to  this  Society 
he  had  stated  their  resemblance  to  Cypriote,  although  in  common 
with  other  characters ;  but  he  was  not  the  author  of  the  erroneous 
deduction  now  being  made  that  the  sounds  of  Cypriote  and  of  the 
ideographic  Khita  were  consequently  the  same. 

Captain  CONDER  said  that  with  regard  to  the  points  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Bertin  and  Mr.  Hyde  Clarke,  he  had  only  a  few  words  to 
say.  As  to  the  dark  race,  supposed  to  be  recognised  at  Tell  Loh, 
their  existence  or  non-existence  did  not  affect  his  subject,  since  he 
believed  the  Hittite  to  be  an  Altaic  people.  He  was  very  glad  to 
find  that  Mr.  Bertin  saw  no  objection  to  such  a  supposition. 
With  respect  to  the  position  of  women  among  the  Akkadians,  he 
was  entirely  of  Mr.  Bertin's  opinion.  It  appeared  to  him  that  the 
position  of  women  must  always  have  been  lowest  when  the  race 
was  least  civilised,  and  that  as  the  weaker  sex  woman  is  most 
honoured  by  the  most  cultivated  people. 

As  regarded  his  proposed  reading  of  the  inscriptions,  he  wished 
it  to  be  understood  that  the  work  was  purely  tentative,  and  put 
forward  with  the  view  of  collecting  the  opinions  of  those  who 
know  best.  He  had  as  yet  seen  no  reason  to  withdraw  from  any 
of  his  views,  either  as  to  general  construction,  or  as  to  the  subject 
of  the  texts  ;  although  he  had  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  details 
would  require  reconsideration.  His  desire  was  to  demonstrate  the 
existence  of  the  simple  roots,  recoverable  through  the  Cypriote, 
by  means  of  comparative  study  of  existing  Altaic  languages. 

With  respect  to  Georgian  it  was  quite  possible  that  some  aid 
might  be  obtained  from  that  language  if  it  were  the  case  (as  Prof. 
Hommel  states)  that  it  had  affinities  to  the  Proto-Medic,  since 
Proto-Medic  is  an  acknowledged  Altaic  language  and  allied  to 
Akkadian.  This  Georgian  had  not,  however,  been  found  to  throw 
any  light  on  the  bilingual,  nor  had  any  Georgian  words  as  yet 
been  compared  with  Hittite  words  ;  whereas  at  least  45  words  in 
the  geographical  and  royal  lists,  noticed  in  his  paper,  may  be  com- 
pared with  Akkadian,  Proto-Medic,  Susian,  and  Etruscan  words, 
as  well  as  with  Finnish,  Ostiak,  Vogul,  Turkish,  and  with  some 
Tatar  or  Mongolian  words,  and  even  in  a  few  cases  with  Chinese. 
The  parent  language  from  which  the  older  Akkadian,  Sumerian, 
and  Cassite,  and  the  later  Median  and  Susian  dialects  developed, 
would,  he  confidently  expected,  be  found  to  be  that  from  which  the 
Etruscan  and  the  Hittite  and  Asia  Minor  Altaic  dialects'  also 
sprang;  and  he  also  felt  confident  that,  not  only  the  texts  from 
Cappadocia  and  from  Ibreez,  but  also  those  from  Hamath  and  from 


158  H.  WALLACE. — The  Guanchos. 

Carchemish,  would  be  found  to  be  religious,  or  rather  magical,  and 
not  historical. 

Postscript. 

The  following  notes  should  be  added  to  the  paper : — 1.  The  two- 
headed  eagle  mentioned  in  Cappadocia,  &c.,  was  also  an  Etruscan 
emblem.  2.  The  two-headed  deity  of  Asia  Minor  and  Egypt  is  to  be 
compared  with  the  Janus  or  Janis  of  the  Etruscans.  3.  The  demon 
heads  of  the  Jerablus  text  may  be  compared  with  representations 
of  the  Etruscan  Charun,  and  with  the  Etruscan  Gorgonian  heads 
with  protruding  tongues.  The  same  head  occurs  in  Sicily,  in  Egypt, 
in  Phoenicia,  and  in  India,  representing  gods  of  death  and  of  the 
infernal  region.  4.  The  cup  held  by  the  goddess  at  Merash  may  be 
compared  not  only  with  the  vase  of  Isis,  but  also  with  the  cup  held 
by  Istar  in  Assyrian  sculpture.  Mr.  Bertin  connects  the  cup  or 
bowl  with  the  cuneiform  emblem  for  the  word  tin  ("life"),  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  a  widely-spread  female  emblem  all  over 
Asia. 

Since  reading  this  paper  the  author  has  continued  his  study  by 
aid  of  living  languages  and  has  compared  800  Akkadian  and  200 
Median  words  with  Tatar  roots.  He  has  traced  some  200 
Egyptian  words  to  a  Tatar  origin  and  has  compared  nearly  every 
Cypriote  syllable  with  its  Hittite  original.  He  has  also  compared 
60  Hittite  and  Archaic  cuneiform  signs,  and  about  40  Egyptian 
and  Hittite,  but  finds  evidence  of  a  very  early  separation  of  these 
various  systems.  He  also  now  believes  the  Phoenician  alphabet  to 
be  clearly  derived  from  the  Hittite  hieroglyphics.  The  Mongolian 
origin  of  the  Hittites  has  also  subsequently  been  accepted  by  Dr. 
Isaac  Taylor  and  Prof.  Sayce. 


Mr.  H.  WALLACE  exhibited  some  ancient  Guancho  skulls  and 
other  objects  from  his  excavations  in  the  Canary  Islands,  upon, 
which  he  made  some  explanatory  remarks. 

TJie  GUANCHOS. 
By  HENKY  WALLACH,  Esq. 

DURING  my  recent  stay  at  the  .Canary  Islands,  and  in  parti- 
cular at  Grand  Canary,  in  the  spring  of  1887,  I  visited  the 
abodes  and  ancient  burial  places  of  the  Guanchos.  I  have 
climbed  the  mountain  chains  of  Guayadeque  (near  Agimes), 
and  explored,  over  precipices  and  rocks  difficult  of  access,  the 
sepulchres  of  that  ancient  and  extinct  race,  where  I  excavated, 
amongst  other  finds,  several  skulls,  three  of  which  I  have  the 
honour  to  exhibit  at  the  meeting  of  this  Institute. 

The  skull  which  I  have  marked  No.  3  is  the  skull  (with  lower 
jaw)  of  a  man,  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation,  which  demon- 


H.  WALLACE. — The  Guanchos.  150 

strates  the  peculiarities  and  characteristics  of  this  race  in'a  marked 
manner.  The  orbits  are  large  and  rectangular,  the  forehead  short 
and  well  developed,  and  the  curve  is  the  one  peculiar  to  the  type. 
It  shows  the  flattening  of  the  parieto-occipital  region,  is  well 
developed,  and  the  occipital  shows  a  prominent  projection. 

The  skull  is  very  long  and  dolichocephalous. 

No.  2  is  the  diseased  skull  of  an  old  woman.  The  forehead 
represents  the  character  peculiar  to  this  sex.  The  orbits  are 
rather  low,  rectangular,  and  very  large.  The  skull,  generally 
speaking,  shows  in  a  pronounced  way  the  peculiarity  owned  by 
this  sex  and  race. 

No.  1,  the  skull  of  a  young  man,  exhibits  the  intermixture  with 
other  races,  and  demonstrates  the  result  of  the  influence  of  the 
Semitic  emigration. 

I  have  further  brought  before  this  Institute  tanned  skins  and 
specimens  of  vegetable  tissues,  being  parts  of  garments  likewise 
found  in  the  sepulchres  of  Guayadeque. 

I  particularly  desire  to  mention  that  during  my  stay  at  Las 
Palrnas,  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  Dr.  Verneau  of  the  Paris  Museum  d'Histoire  Naturel,  an 
authority  on  the  Guanchos,  who  resided  there  on  a  Govern- 
ment mission  extending  over  a  number  of  years,  and  I  am  greatly 
indebted  to  Dr.  Verneau  for  having  drawn  my  attention  to  this 
interesting  branch  of  science.  In  the  following  notes  I  have 
tried  to  give,  in  a  small  compass,  the  most  important  anthropo- 
logical, ethnographical,  and  historical  outlines  of  the  Guanchos. 
As  far  as  I  have  been  able,  I  have  utilized  the  results  of  my 
researches  made  on  the  spot,  and  I  have  further  made  use  of 
those  of  others.  I  take  this  opportunity  to  acknowledge  the 
kindness  shown  to  me  by  Dr.  Verneau. 

Under  the  name  of  Guanchos  are  designated  the  primitive 
inhabitants  of  the  Canarian  Archipelago,  although  it  is  said  the 
first  European  conquerors  gave  to  the  population  of  each  of 
these  islands  a  different  name. 

There,  as  in  many  other  archipelagoes,  has  been  noticed  a 
variation  in  language  between  one  island  and  another ;  and  also 
in  the  different  districts  of  more  considerable  extent  even  habits, 
customs,  and  the  physical  type  varied. 

The  Guanchos  were  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Teneriffe,  and 
had  most  probably  spread  to  the  other  islands.  But  in  Teneriffe, 
it  seems  that  they  preserved  themselves  pure  up  to  the  time 
of  the  conquest ;  and  even  the  type  survives  to  our  day  in  some 
southern  hamlets. 

A  second  ethnic  type,  which  recalls  that  of  the  Arabs,  has 
been  particularly  recognised  through  the  study  of  the  skulls 
found  at  La  Isleta,  the  small  peninsula  to  the  north  of  Grand 


160  H.  WALLACE. — The  Guanchos. 

Canary.  The  neighbourhood  of  the  African  coast  explains  the 
presence  of  this  element  in  the  archipelago,  which  might  have 
been  introduced  at  the  epoch  of  the  extension  of  the  Arab 
power  in  the  north  of  Africa. 

The  Guancho  type,  in  its  craniological  characteristics  ap- 
proaches to  that  of  the  ancient  race  of  the  Cro-Magnon. 

As  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  lowlands  of  Vezere,  the 
head  is  disharmonic.  The  skull  is  sub-dolichocephalous,  very 
broad,  the  forehead  low,  and  the  prognathism  never  much 
accentuated. 

A  largely  developed  frontal  sinus  rises  above  the  low  and 
very  large  orbits,  of  rectangular  aspect.  The  nose  is  straight, 
short,  and  thick,  without  being  flat.  In  consequence  of  the 
great  development  of  the  bi-zygomatic  diameter,  and  the  sharp 
retreat  of  the  maxilla  part  of  the  face,  the  cheek  bones  jut  out 
very  much. 

The  skull,  generally  speaking,  is  wel]  proportioned,  and 
its  capacity  is  considerable.  The  parieto-occipital  region  is 
very  much  developed,  and  the  occipital  very  often  forms  a  pro- 
nounced projection.  Other  anatomical  characteristics,  resulting 
from  t^lie  examination  of  the  various  parts  of  the  skeleton 
render  the  opinion  still  more  probable  that  the  Guanchos 
resemble  the  race  of  the  Cro-Magnon. 

In  fact  with  these  islanders  one  meets  with  column-shaped 
thighbones,  platycnemic  tibi<e,  the  flattening  of  the  shinbone  on 
both  surfaces,  and  perforated  humeri1  (46  per  cent,  in  the  Gulf 
of  Eisco  de  Petrigal,  Tacaronte).  On  all  the  bones  the  muscular 
traces  are  very  marked.  In  those  places  where  the  Arab  element 
has  taken  root,  and  particularly  with  the  people  of  La  Isleta,  the 
craniological  and  osteological  characteristics  are  no  longer  the 
same. 

As  to  the  physical  type  of  the  Guanchos,  according  to  the 
first  historians  of  the  conquest,  they  are  described  as  a  hand- 
some race.  They  were  rather  tall,  well-built,  of  athletic  forms, 
and  of  a  surprising  agility.  Their  complexion  was  white  and 
their  hair  light.  The  influence  of  the  Arab  emigration  has  been 
clearly  proved  by  a  partial  alteration  in  certain  islands.  The 
women  were  handsome,  and  some  of  them  have  been  specially 
mentioned  as  types  of  beauty.  The  Guanchos  were  a  courageous, 
energetic,  and  warlike  race,  who  for  a  long  time  struggled  with 
tenacity  against  the  European  invaders  before  submitting  to 
their  domination. 

What  we  know  of  their  language  leads   us  to  believe  that  it 

1  A  depression  in  the  bone  where  the  olecranic  process  is  received,  better  known 
amongst  inferior  races. 


H.  WALLACE. — The  Guanchos.  161 

was  connected  with  the  idiom  of  the  Berbers  of  the  north  of 
Africa,  but  had  borrowed  some  elements  from  the  Arabic.  Certain 
•expressions  and  proper  names  of  ancient  chieftains,  still  borne 
by  certain  families,  are  all  that  is  left  of  this  Guaucho  language, 
in  place  of  which  that  of  the  conquerors  has  been  substituted. 

In  many  islands  of  the  archipelago  there  are  engraved  on 
certain  rocks  signs,  which  only  during  the  last  few  years  have 
attracted  the  attention  of  those  who  have  interested  themselves 
in  the  history  of  the  Canary  Islands. 

Domingo  Vandewalle,  a  military  governor  of  Las  Palmas,  was 
the  first  who  in  1752  took  up  the  idea  of  copying  these  ;  and 
it  is  also  due  to  the  perseverance  of  D.  Aquilino  Padran,  a 
•curate  of  Las  Palmas,  that  anything  about  the  inscription  of 
Hierro  has  been  brought  to  light. 

In  1878  Dr.  Verneau,  who  copied  certain  signs  in  the  moun- 
tain of  Cuatro  Puertas,  Grand  Canary,  was  lucky  enough  to 
discover  in  the  same  island  some  genuine  Libyan  inscriptions. 
Situated  in  the  ravines  of  Las  Balos,  these  characters  had  never 
before  been  noticed. 

The  inscriptions  in  the  Canarian  Archipelago  often  contain 
characters  so  much  deteriorated  that  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to 
copy  the  same  faithfully.  It  is,  according  to  Dr.  Verneau,  in- 
contestable that  the  Canarian  inscriptions  are  Numidic. 

In  fact  we  find  here  nearly  all  the  signs  of  the  Numidic 
inscriptions  of  Algiers  and  Tunis,  as  collected  by  General 
Faidherbe.  So  far  there  has  been  no  clue  discovered  to  solve 
the  mystery  of  these — for  the  present — dead  witnesses  of  a 
language,  the  deciphering  of  which  is  left  to  a  special  study, 
apparently  of  insurmountable  difficulty. 

The  conclusions  drawn  by  Dr.  Verneau  from  the  exami- 
nation of  the  inscriptions,  seem  to  corroborate  those  to  which 
the  study  of  the  physical  and  ethnographical  characters  has 
led  us. 

In  two  of  the  islands  of  the  archipelago  (Teneriffe  and 
Goinera)  the  Guancho  type  has  been  retained  with  more  purity 
than  in  the  others. 

No  inscriptions  have  up  to  this  day  been  met  with  in  these 
two  islands,  and  therefore  we  may  conclude  that  the  Guanchos 
did  not  know  how  to  write. 

In  the  other  islands  we  have  found  numerous  Semitic  traces, 
and  at  the  same  time  we  find  here  signs  engraved  in  the  rocks. 

From  all  these  facts  we  draw  the  conclusion,  that  the 
Numides,  travelling  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Carthage,  and 
intermixing  with  the  dominant  Semitic  race,  landed  in  the 
Canary  Islands.  These  are  they  who  have  written  the  inscrip- 
tions at  Hierro  and  Grand  Canary. 

VOL.  XVII.  M 


162  H.  WALLACE. — The  Guanchos. 

The  political  and  social  institutions  varied.  In  some  parts, 
hereditary  autocracy  prevailed,  whilst  in  others  the  government 
was  elective.  In  certain  islands  polyandry  was  practised,  in 
others  monogamy  only  existed. 

Almost  all  the  Guanchos  used  to  wear  garments  made  of 
goat-skins  and  some  of  vegetable  tissues,  which  have  been 
found  in  the  sepulchres  of  Grand  Canary. 

They  had  a  taste  for  wearing  ornaments,  such  as  dangling 
finery  and  necklaces,  consisting  of  fragments  of  wood,  bone,  and 
shells,  worked  in  different  designs.  Beads  of  baked  earth,, 
cylindrical  and  of  all  sorts  of  shapes,  with  smooth  or  polished 
surfaces,  mostly  black  and  red  in  colour,  were  chiefly  in  use. 

They  were  also  in  the  habit  of  painting  their  bodies. 
Numerous  objects  made  of  baked  earth  and  greatly  varying  in 
design,  have  been  found  in  Grand  Canary.  Though  a  lengthy 
controversy  left  the  object  of  these  "  Pintaderas  "  (a  kind  of  seal),. 
open  to  dispute,  Dr.  Verneau  has  proved  that  their  sole  object 
was  to  print  the  body  in  various  colours.  They  manufactured 
rough  pottery,  mostly  without  decorations  or  ornamented  by 
means  of  the  finger-nail.  Various  implements  in  use  by  the 
ancient  Guanchos  are  still  common  with  their  descendants ;  the 
most  important  being  the  mill  for  grinding  Gofia.  (Gofia  is 
the  Kooskoosou  of  the  Berbers  and  Moors  to  this  day).  It 
consists  of  two  grinding-stones  resembling  those  met  with  even 
now  among  the  Berber  tribes  of  Morocco  and  Algiers.  In  their 
petty  local  wars,  the  weapons  of  the  Guanchos  were  obviously  the 
same  as  those  of  the  ancient  races  of  the  south,  of  Europe.  The 
polished  battle-axe  was  more  in  use  in  Grand  Canary,  whilst 
stone  and  obsidian,  roughly  cut,  was  better  known  in  Teneriffe. 
Besides  these  they  had  the  lance,  the  club,  sometimes  studded 
with  pebbles,  the  javelin,  and  they  may  have  known  the 
shield.  The  numerous  natural  caves  in  the  mountains  served  as 
places  of  habitation,  while  others,  artificially  excavated,  spacious, 
and  divided  into  various  compartments  were  also  used.  In 
places  where  caves  were  not  to  be  found,  they  built  arti- 
ficial shelter,  small  houses  of  circular  shape,  and  according  to 
the  narrative  of  the  conquerors  they  also  built  fortifications. 
The  Guanchos  were  in  the  habit  of  embalming  certain  bodies 
before  burial,  and  the  proceedings  apparently  varied  in  the 
different  islands.  In  Teneriffe  and  Grand  Canary,  the  corpse 
was  wrapped  up  in  goat  and  sheep-skins,  more  or  less  in 
number,  whilst  in  other  parts  a  resinous  substance  was  used  to 
preserve  the  body,  which  afterwards  was  deposited  in  caves 
difficult  of  access,  or  buried  under  the  tumuli.  A  particular 
class  of  persons  was  set  apart  to  embalm  bodies ;  women  only 
being  permitted  to  preserve  bodies  of  their  own  sex,  and  men 


H.  WALLACE. — 2he  GuancJios.  163 

for  men.  The  practice  of  embalming,  however,  was  far  from 
being  generally  adopted,  and  the  larger  number  of  corpses  were 
simply  deposited  in  caves,  in  tumuli,  or  in  trenches  without 
employing  any  means  to  preserve  them  from  decay. 

What  we  know  about  the  Guancho  religion  is  very  obscure. 
There  was  a  general  belief  in  a  Supreme  Being  called  Acoran  in 
Grand  Canary,  Achihuran  in  Teneriffe,  Eraoranhan  in  Hierro, 
and  Abora  in  Palma.  The  women  of  the  island  of  Hierro  wor- 
shipped a  goddess  under  the  name  of  Moneiba.  According  to 
tradition  the  male  and  female  gods  lived  in  mountains,  whence 
they  descended  to  listen  to  the  prayer  of  the  people.  In  other 
islands  the  people  venerated  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  earth,  and 
the  stars.  The  belief  in  the  evil  spirit  was  nearly  general. 
The  demon  of  Teneriffe  was  called  Guayota,  and  lived  in  the 
peak  of  Teyde,  which  was  the  hell,  called  Echeyde. 

We  have  to  put  the  question :  Whence  have  the  Guanchos 
come — that  is  to  say,  this  race,  which  seems  to  have  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  population  of  the  whole  archipelago  ? 

For  several  years  past,"  certain  French  anthropologists  have 
called  attention  to  the  great  physical  similarity  and  character- 
istics which  existed  between  the  Guanchos  and  the  ancient 
French  race  of  the  lowlands  of  Vezere,  the  Cro-Magnon.  The 
evidence  which  we  possess  permits  us  to  state  that  this  race, 
the  Cro-Magnon,  had  emigrated  in  large  bodies  towards  the 
south.  It  is  certain  that  a  branch  of  this  race  arrived  in 
Italy.  Representatives  of  this  type  have  been  found  in 
Mentone,  at  Cantalupo  (Roman  Campagna),  and  further  still  at 
the  Isola  de  Liri.  Near  the  Pyrenees,  we  find  the  same  type; 
near  Segovia,  in  Spain  (Province  of  Old  Castilia),  have  lived, 
during  the  polished  stone  period,  individuals  who  show  the 
dolichocephaly  of  the  people  of  the  Cro-Magnon.  Near  Albania, 
in  the  province  of  Grenada,  skulls  of  this  type  have  been 
excavated. 

Without  going  further  into  details,  we  may  conclude  from  what 
is  already  stated,  that  the  race  of  Cro-Magnon  emigrated  towards 
the  south,  and  crossed  the  Iberian  Peninsula. 

In  the  quaternary  age  in  France,  especially  towards  the 
neolithic  epoch,  it  seems  to  have  developed  itself  towards  Spain. 
It  arrived  in  the  north  of  Africa,  before  the  Roman  period,  as 
proved  by  the  tombs  of  Roknia,  and  it  is  also  probable  that  it 
reached  the  Canary  Islands,  before  the  Roman  epoch.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  the  Guanchos  are  the  descendants  of  the  Cro- 
Magnon,  who,  shortly  after  their  landing  in  the  Canary  Islands, 
had  seen  the  arrival  of  people  from  the  northern  parts  of  Africa, 
with  whom  they  entered  into  communication. 

Family  ties  were  established  between  the  Guanchos  and  the 

M  2 


164  H.  WALLACE. — The  Guanchos. 

former ;  and  of  this  intermixture,  which  extended  up  to  the 
conquest,  have  resulted  these  numerous  mixed  types  which  \ve 
find  by  the  side  of  the  almost  absolutely  pure  race. 

Etymology. 

Nunez  de  la  Pena  tells  us  that  the  natives  of  Teneriffe  called 
themselves  Guanchinet,  which  the  Spaniards  corrupted  into 
Guanchos. 

Guan,  meant  person ;  and  Cliinet  was  the  same  as  Teneriffe,  so 
the  two  words  combined  signify  a  man  of  Teneriffe.  Tenerfiz 
=  Teneriffe,  the  island  of  Hell. 

There  are  a  great  number  of  hypotheses  in  existence  about 
the  origin  of  the  geographical  name  of  the  Canary  Islands.  The 
most  acceptable  appears  to  be  that  the  islands,  and  in  particular, 
Grand  Canary,  was  so-called  by  the  Carthaginians,  on  account  of 
the  great  number  of  large  dogs  found. 

To  illustrate  the  Arab  origin  of  some  of  the  geographical 
names  in  the  islands,  I  discovered,  with  the  assistance  of  some 
Arab  friends,  the  following  names  in  Grand  Canary,  and  notably 
on  the  north-east  and  east  coasts : — 

Moya. — Moia,  water. 

Firgas. — Faradja,  giving  ease,  on  account  of  its  salutiferous 
mineral  wells  (still  in  existence). 

Tarnaraceita. — Tamar,  a  date  tree  (a  lovely  palm-grove  rises 
•on  the  slopes). 

Telde.— Tel,  a  hill. 

Tafira. — Tqfir,  dusty. 

Guayadeque. — G-uaya  (Spanish),  grief,  sorrow  ;  and  Dekkeli 
.(Arab),  mound.  Numerous  sepulchres  are  found  in  these 
mountains. 

On  the  west  coast  I  trace : — 

Aldea. — Aldeah,  a  village; 
And  in  the  south  : — 

The  now  extinct  volcano  Mount  del  Tabaybel. — Tcib&l,  the 
beating  of  a  drum,  a  rumbling  noise. 

Arrceife,  the  principal  port  in  Lanzarote,  is  the  Arab  word 
Arraseefah,  terrace. 

Taissa. — Taissah,  unfortunate. 

Aissah. — Aissah,  despair,  because  in  close  proximity  to  a 
crater  now  extinct. 

APPENDIX.1 

The  Canarian  Islands  are  said  to  have  been  known  by  the 
Carthaginians,  who  in  their  celebrated  expedition  of  Hanno, 

1  From  Major  A.  B.  Ellis's  "  West  Africsu  Islands,"  London,  1885. 


II.  WALLACH. — The  Guanchos.  165 

about  250  years  before  the  Christian  era,  sailed  along  the 
African  coast  till  they  arrived  within  five  degrees  of  the  Equator. 
According  to  Pliny,  the  Carthaginians  found  the  islands  unin- 
habited, but  saw  in  every  direction  the  ruins  of  great  buildings, 
which  had  been  erected  by  former  inhabitants.  In  more 
modern  times  the  Canary  Islands  became  first  known  to 
Europeans  in  1326,  when  a  French  ship  was  driven  there  in  a 
storm,  and  they  were  doubtless  afterwards  visited  by  other 
vessels  of  the  same  nationality. 

The  first  record,  however,  of  any  communication  between 
Europeans  and  the  aborigines  of  the  islands  dates  from  1385, 
when  Fernando  Peraza,  of  Sevilla,  sailed  for  the  Canarian  Islands, 
with  five  ships  and  landed  at  Lanzarote,  the  most  northerly  of 
the  group.  According  to  the  good  old  manner  of  the  time,  the, 
cruel  invaders,  without  receiving  any  provocation,  at  once  fired 
upon  the  inoffensive  natives  who  came  crowding  down  to  look 
at  them,  killed  and  wounded  many  with  their  arrows,  and  so 
terrified  the  remainder,  that  they  ran  away.  Other  expeditions 
were  subsequently  undertaken,  but  it  was  not  till  1402,  at  the 
epoch  of  Jean  de  Bethencourt,  that  any  descent  was  made  upon 
the  Canary  Islands.  After  several  fruitless  attempts  in  1461, 
the  Spaniards  endeavoured  to  obtain,  by  fraud,  that  foothold 
which  they  were  unable  to  obtain  by  force  of  arms.  Of  all  the 
Canarians,  the  Guanchos  of  Teneriffe  held  out  the  longest 
against  the  conquerors.  It  was  not  till  1512  that  they  lost 
their  independence  and  were  entirely  subdued  by  the  Spaniards. 
In  consequence  of  several  causes,  and  particularly  without 
doubt,  that  the  ancient  language  of  these  islanders  had  to  give 
way  to  Spanish,  it  had  been  generally  admitted  that  the  popula- 
tion had  entirely  perished,  exterminated  by  the  conqueror,  or 
carried  away  by  the  plague  of  1494. 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MISCELLANEA. 


ADDRESS  to  the  ANTHROPOLOGICAL  SECTION  of  the  BRITISH  ASSOCIATION 
at  MANCHESTER. 

By  Prof.  A.  H.  SAYCE,  M.A.,  President  of  the  Section. 

SURPRISE  has  sometimes  been  expressed  that  anthropology,  the 
science  of  man,  should  have  been  the  last  of  the  sciences  to  come 
into  being.  But  the  fact  is  not  so  strange  as  it  seems  at  first  sight 
to  be.  Science  originated  in  curiosity,  and  the  curiosity  of 
primitive  man,  like  the  curiosity  of  a  child,  was  first  exercised  upon 
the  objects  around  him.  The  fact  that  we  are  separate  from  the 
world  about  us,  and  that  the  world  about  us  is  our  own  creation, 
is  a  conviction  which  grows  but  slowly  in  the  mind  either  of  the 
individual  or  of  the  race  in  general.  The  child  says,  "Charley 
likes  this,"  before  he  learns  to  say,  "  /  like  this,"  and  in  most 
languages  the  objective  case  of  the  personal  pronoun  exhibits 
earlier  forms  than  the  nominative. 

Moreover,  it  is  only  through  the  relations  that  exist  between 
mankind  and  external  nature  that  we  can  arrive  at  anything  like  a 
scientific  knowledge  of  man.  Science,  it  must  be  remembered, 
implies  the  discovery  of  general  laws,  and  general  laws  are  only 
possible  if  we  deal,  not  with  the  single  individual,  but  with  indi- 
viduals when  grouped  together  in  races,  tribes,  or  communities. 
We  can  never  take  a  photograph  of  the  mind  of  an  individual, 
but  we  can  come  to  know  the  principles  that  govern  the  actions 
of  bodies  of  men,  and  can  employ  the  inductive  method  of  science 
to  discover  the  physical  and  moral  characteristics  of  tribes  and 
races.  It  is  through  the  form  of  the  skull,  the  nature  of  the 
language,  the  manners  and  customs,  or  the  religious  ideas  of  a 
people  that  we  can  gain  a  true  conception  of  their  history  and 
character.  The  thinker  who  wishes  to  carry  out  the  precept  of  the 
Delphian  oracle  and  to  "know  himself"  must  study  himself  as 
reflected  in  the  community  to  which  he  belongs.  The  sum  of  the 
sciences  which  deal  with  the  relations  of  the  community  to  the 
external  world  will  constitute  the  science  of  anthropology. 

The  field  occupied  by  the  science  is  a  vast  one,  and  the  several 
workers  in  it  must  be  content  to  cultivate  portions  of  it  only.  The 
age  of  "  admirable  Crichtons  "  is  past ;  it  would  be  impossible  for  a 
single  student  to  cover  with  equal  success  the  whole  domain  of 
anthropology.  All  that  he  can  hope  to  do  is  to  share  the  labour 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  167 

with  others,  and  to  concentrate  his  energies  on  but  one  or  two 
departments  in  the  wide  field  of  research.  A  day  may  come  when 
the  work  we  have  to  perform  will  be  accomplished,  and  our 
successors  will  reap  the  harvest  that  we  have  sown.  But  mean- 
while we  must  each  keep  to  our  own  special  line  of  investigation, 
asking  only  that  others  whose  studies  have  lain  in  a  different 
direction  shall  help  us  with  the  results  they  have  obtained. 

I  shall  therefore  make  no  apology  for  confining  myself  on  the 
present  occasion  to  those  branches  of  anthropological  study  about 
which  I  know  most.  It  is  more  particularly  to  the  study  of 
language,  and  the  evidence  we  may  derive  from  it  as  to  the  history 
and  development  of  mankind,  that  I  wish  to  direct  your  attention. 
It  is  in  language  that  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  man  are  mirrored 
and  embodied ;  it  is  through  language  that  we  learn  the  little  we 
know  about  what  is  passing  in  the  minds  of  others.  Language  is 
not  only  a  means  of  intercommunication,  it  is  also  a  record  of 
the  ideas  and  beliefs,  the  emotions  and  the  hopes  of  the  past 
generations  of  the  world.  In  spoken  language,  accordingly,  we 
may  discover  the  fossilised  records  of  early  humanity,  as  well  as 
the  reflection  of  the  thoughts  that  move  the  society  of  to-day. 
What  fossils  are  to  the  geologist  words  a.re  to  the  comparative 
philologist. 

But  we  must  be  carefnl  not  to  press  the  testimony  of  language 
beyond  its  legitimate  limits.  Language  is  essentially  a  social 
product,  the  creation  of  a  community  of  men  living  together  and 
moved  by  the  same  wants  and  desires.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  bonds 
that  bind  a  community  together,  and  its  existence  and  development 
depend  upon  the  community  to  which  it  belongs.  If  the  com- 
munity is  changed  by  conquest  or  intermarriage  or  any  other  cause 
the  language  of  the  community  changes  too.  The  individual  who 
quits  one  community  for  another  has  at  the  same  time  to  shift  his 
language.  The  Frenchman  who  naturalises  himself  in  England 
must  acquire  English  ;  the  negro  who  is  born  in  the  United  States 
must  adopt  the  language  that  is  spoken  there. 

Language  is  thus  a  characteristic  of  a  community,  and  not  of  an 
individual.  The  neglect  of  this  fact  has  introduced  untold  mischief 
not  only  into  philology,  but  into  ethnology  as  well.  Race  and 
language  have  been  confused  together,  and  the  fact  that  a  man 
speaks  a  particular  language  has  too  often  been  assumed,  in  spite 
of  daily  experience,  to  prove  that  he_  belongs  to  a  particular  race. 
When  scholars  had  discovered  that  the  Sanskrit  of  India  belonged 
to  the  same  linguistic  family  as  the  European  languages,  they 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  the  dark-skinned  Hindu  and  the 
light-haired  Scandinavian  must  also  belong  to  one  and  the  same 
race.  Time  after  time  have  I  taken  up  books  which  sought  to 
determine  the  racial  affinities  of  savage  or  barbarous  tribes  by 
means  of  their  language.  Language  and  race,  in  short,  have  been 
used  as  synonymous  terms. 

The  fallacy  is  still  so  common,  still  so  frequently  peeps  out 
where  we  should  least  expect  it,  that  I  think  it  is  hardly  superfluous, 


168  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

even  now,  to  draw  attention  to  it.  And  yet  we  have  only  to  look 
around  us  to  see  how  contrary  it  is  to  all  the  facts  of  experience. 
We  Englishmen  are  bound  together  by  a  common  language,  but  the 
historian  and  the  craniologist  will  alike  tell  us  that  the  blood  that 
runs  in  our  veins  is  derived  from  a  very  various  ancestry.  Kelt 
and  Teuton,  Scandinavian  and  Roman  have  struggled  together  for 
the  mastery  in  our  island  since  it  first  came  within  the  horizon  of 
history,  and  in  the  remoter  days  of  which  history  and  tradition  are 
silent  archaeology  assures  us  that  there  were  yet  other  races  who 
fought  and  mingled  together.  The  Jews  have  wandered  through 
the  world  adopting  the  languages  of  the  peoples  among  whom  they 
have  settled,  and  in  Transylvania  they  even  look  upon  an  old  form 
of  Spanish  as  their  sacred  tongue.  The  Cornishman  now  speaks 
English ;  is  he  on  that  account  less  of  a  Kelt  than  the  Welshman 
or  the  Breton  ? 

Language,  however,  is  not  wholly  without  value  to  the  ethnologist. 
Though  a  common  language  is  not  a  test  of  race,  it  is  a  test  of 
social  contact.  And  social  contact  may  mean — indeed  very  generally 
does  mean — a  certain  amount  of  intermarriage  as  well.  The  penal 
laws  passed  against  the  Welsh  in  the  fifteenth  century  were  not  suffi- 
cient to  prevent  marriages  now  and  then  between  the  Welsh  and 
the  English,  and  in  spite  of  the  social  ostracism  of  the  negro  in  the 
Northern  States  of  America  intermarriages  have  taken  place  there 
between  the  black  and  the  white  population.  But  in  the  case  of 
such  intermarrying  the  racial  traits  of  one  member  only  of  the  union 
are,  as  a  general  rule,  preserved.  The  physical  and  moral  type  of 
the  stronger  parent  prevails  in  the  end,  though  it  is  often  not  easy 
to  tell  beforehand  on  which  side  the  strength  will  lie.  Sometimes,, 
indeed,  the  physical  and  moral  characters  are  not  inherited  together,, 
the  child  following  one  of  his  parents  in  physical  type  while  he 
inherits  his  moral  and  intellectual  qualities  from  another.  But 
even  in  such  cases  the  types  preserve  a  wonderful  fixity,  and  testify 
to  the  difficulty  of  changing  what  we  call  the  characteristics  of 
race. 

Herein  lies  one  of  the  most  obvious  differences  between  race  and 
language,  a  difference  which  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  show  how 
impossible  it  must  be  to  argue  from  the  one  to  the  other.  While 
the  characteristics  of  race  seem  almost  indelible,  language  is  as 
fluctuating  and  variable  as  the  waves  of  the  sea.  It  is  perpetually 
changing  in  the  months  of  its  speakers ;  nay,  the  individual  can 
even  forget  the  language  of  his  childhood  and  acquire  another 
which  has  not  the  remotest  connection  with  it.  A  man  cannot  rid 
himself  of  the  characteristics  of  race,  but  his  language  is  like  his 
clothing  which  he  can  strip  off  and  change  almost  at  will. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  fact  of  which  only  one  explanation 
is  possible.  The  distinctions  of  race  must  be  older  than  the 
distinctions  of  language.  On  the  monuments  of  Egypt,  more  than 
four  thousand  years  ago,  the  Libyans  are  represented  with  the  same 
fair  European  complexion  as  that  of  the  modern  Kabyles,  and  the 
painted  tomb  of  Rekh-ma-ra,  a  Theban  prince  who  lived  in  the 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  169 

sixteenth  century  before  our  era,  portrays  the  black -skinned  negro,, 
the  olive-coloured  Syrian,  and  the  red-skinned  Egyptian  with  all 
the  physical  peculiarities  that  distinguish  their  descendants  to-day. 
The  Egyptian  language  has  ceased  to  be  spoken  even  in  its  latest 
Coptic  form,  but  the  wooden  figure  of  the  "  Sheikh  el-beled"  in  the 
Bulaq  Museum,  carved  b',000  years  ago,  reproduces  the  features  of 
many  a  fellah  in  the  modern  villages  of  the  Nile.  Within  the 
limits  of  history  racial  characteristics  have  undergone  no  change. 

I  see,  therefore,  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  the  chief 
distinctions  of  race  were  established  long  before  man  acquired 
language.  If  the  statement  made  by  M.  de  Mortillet  is  true,  that 
the  absence  of  the  mental  tubercle,  or  bony  excrescence  in  which 
the  tongue  is  inserted,  in  a  skull  of  the  Neanderthal  type  found  at 
La  Naulette,  indicates  an  absence  of  the  faculty  of  speech,  one  race 
at  least  of  palaeolithic  man  would  have  existed  in  Europe  before  it 
had  as  yet  invented  an  articulate  language.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  man  has  known  how  to  speak  for  any  very  great 
length  of  time.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  true,  languages  may  remain 
fixed  and  almost  stationary  for  a  long  series  of  generations.  Of 
this  the  Semitic  languages  afford  a  conspicuous  example.  Not 
only  the  very  words,  but  even  the  very  forms  of  grammar  are  still 
used  by  the  Bedouin  of  Central  Arabia  that  were  employed  by  the 
Semitic  Babylonians  on  their  monuments  five  thousand  years  ago. 
At  that  early  date  the  Semitic  family  of  speech  already  existed 
with  all  its  peculiarities,  which  have  survived  with  but  little 
alteration  up  to  the  present  day.  And  when  it  is  remembered  that 
Old  Egyptian,  which  comes  before  us  as  a  literary  and  decaying 
language  a  thousand  years  earlier,  was  probably  a  sister  of  the 
parent  Semitic  speech,  the  period  to  which  we  must  assign  the 
formation  and  development  of  the  latter  cannot  fall  much  short  of 
ten  thousand  years  before  the  Christian  era.  But  on  the  other 
hand  there  is  no  language  which  does  not  bear  upon  its  face  the 
marks  of  its  origin.  We  can  still  trace  through  the  thin  disguise 
of  subsequent  modifications  and  growth  the  elements,  both  lexical 
and  grammatical,  out  of  which  language  must  have  arisen.  The 
Bushman  dialects  still  preserve  the  inarticulate  clicks  which  pre- 
ceded articulate  sounds  in  expressing  ideas ;  behind  the  roots 
which  the  philologist  discovers  in  allied  groups  of  words  lie,  plainly 
visible,  the  imitations  of  natural  sounds,  or  the  instinctive  utterances 
of  human  emotion ;  while  the  grammar  of  languages  like  Eskimaux 
or  the  Aztec  of  Mexico  carries  us  back  to  the  first  mechanism  for 
conveying  the  meaning  of  one  speaker  to  another.  The  beginnings 
of  articulate  language  are  still  too  transparent  to  allow  us  to  refer 
them  to  a  very  remote  era.  I  once  calculated  that  from  thirty  to 
forty  thousand  years  is  the  utmost  limit  that  we  can  allow  to  man 
as  a  speaking  animal.  In  fact,  the  evidence  that  he  is  a  drawing 
animal,  derived  from  the  pictured  bones  and  horns  of  the  palaeolithic 
age,  mounts  back  to  a  much  earlier  epoch  than  the  evidence  that  he 
is  a  speaking  animal. 

Mr.  Horatio  Hale  has  lately  started  a  very  ingenious  theory  to 


170  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

account,  not  indeed  for  the  origin  of  language  in  general,  but  for 
the  origin  of  that  vast  number  of  apparently  unallied  families  of 
speech  which  have  existed  in  the  world.  He  has  come  across 
examples  of  children  who  have  invented  and  used  languages  of 
their  own,  refusing  at  the  same  time  to  speak  the  language  they 
heard  around  them.  As  the  children  belonged  to  civilised  com- 
munities the  languages  they  invented  did  not  spread  beyond  them- 
selves, and  after  a  time  were  forgotten  by  their  own  inventors.  In 
an  uncivilised  community,  however,  it  is  quite  conceivable  that 
such  a  language  might  continue  to  be  used  by  the  children  after  they 
had  begun  to  grow  up  and  be  communicated  by  them  to  their 
descendants.  In  this  case  a  wholly  new  language  would  be  started, 
which  would  have  no  affinities  with  any  other,  and  after  splitting 
into  dialects  would  become  the  parent  of  numerous  derived  tongues. 
I  must  confess  that  the  evidence  brought  forward  by  Mr.  Hale  in 
support  of  his  theory  is  not  quite  convincing  to  me.  It  has  yet  to  be 
proved  that  the  words  used  by  the  children  to  whom  he  refers  were 
not  echoes  of  the  words  used  by  their  elders.  If  they  were,  a 
language  that  originated  in  them  would  show  more  signs  of  lexical 
affinity  to  the  older  language  than  is  the  case  with  one  family  of 
speech  when  compared  with  another.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
theory  would  tend  to  throw  light  on  the  curious  fact  that  the 
morphological  divisions  of  language  are  also  geographical. 

By  the  morphology  of  a  language  I  mean  its  structure,  that  is  to 
say,  the  mode  in  which  the  relations  of  grammar  are  expressed  in  a 
sentence,  and  the  order  in  which  they  occur.  These  vary  con- 
siderably, the  chief  variations  being  represented  by  the  polysyn- 
thetic  languages  of  America,  the  isolating  languages  of  Eastern 
Asia,  the  postfixal  languages  of  Central  Asia,  the  prefixal  languages 
of  Africa,  and  the  inflectional  languages  of  Europe  and  Western 
Asia.  Now  it  will  be  observed  that  each  of  these  classes  of 
language  is  associated  with  a  particular  part  of  the  globe,  the 
isolating  languages,  for  example,  being  practically  confined  to 
Eastern  Asia,  and  the  polysynthetic  languages  to  America.  Within 
each  class  there  are  numerous  families  of  speech  between  which  no 
relationship  can  be  discovered  beyond  that  of  a  common  structure ; 
they  agree  morphologically,  but  their  grammar  and  lexicon  show 
no  signs  of  connection.  If  we  adopt  Mr.  Hale's  theory  we  might 
suppose  that  the  genealogically  distinct  families  of  speech  grew  up 
in  the  way  he  describes,  while  their  morphological  agreement 
would  be  accounted  for  by  the  inherited  tendency  of  their  children 
to  run  their  thinking  into  a  particular  mould.  The  words  and  con- 
trivances of  grammar  would  be  new,  the  mental  framework  in  which 
they  were  set  would  be  an  inheritance  from  former  generations. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  inflectional  languages  as  belonging  to 
Europe  and  Western  Asia.  This  is  true  if  we  give  a  somewhat 
wide  extension  to  the  term  inflectional,  and  make  it  include  not 
•only  the  Indo-European  group,  but  the  Georgian  and  Semitic 
groups  as  well.  But,  strictly  speaking,  the  Indo-European,  or 
Aryan,  languages  have  a  structure  of  their  own,  which  differs  very 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  171 

markedly  from  that  of  either  the  Georgian  or  the  Semitic  families. 
The  Semitic  mode  of  expressing  the  relations  of  grammar,  by 
changing  the  vowels  within  a  framework  of  consonants  differs  as 
much  from  the  Aryan  mode  of  expressing  them  by  means  of  snffixes 
as  does  the  Semitic  partiality  for  words  of  three  consonants  from 
the  Indo-European  carelessness  about  the  number  of  syllables  in  a 
•word.  Though  it  is  quite  true  that  the  Semitic  languages  at  times 
approach  the  Indo-European  by  using  suffixes  to  denote  the  forms 
of  grammar,  while  at  other  times  the  Indo-European  languages  may 
substitute  internal  vowel  change  for  external  flection,  nevertheless, 
in  general,  the  kind  of  flection  employed  by  the  two  families  of 
speech  is  of  a  totally  different  character. 

This  difference  of  structure,  coupled  with  a  complete  difference  in 
phonology,  grammar,  and  lexion,  has  always  seemed  to  me  to 
negative  the  attempts  that  have  been  made  to  connect  the  Aryan  and 
Semitic  families  of  language  together.  The  attempts  have  usually 
been  based  on  the  old  confusion  between  language  and  race ;  both 
Aryans  and  Semites  belong  to  the  white  race ;  therefore  it  was 
assumed  their  languages  must  be  akin.  As  long  as  it  was  generally 
agreed  that  the  primitive  home  of  the  Aryan  languages  was,  like  that 
of  the  Semitic  languages,  the  western  part  of  Asia,  the  confusion  was 
excusable.  If  the  earliest  seats  of  the  speakers  of  each  were  in 
geographical  proximity,  there  was  some  reason  for  believing  that 
languages  which  were  alike  spoken  by  members  of  the  white  race, 
and  were  alike  classed  as  inflectional,  would,  when  properly 
questioned,  show  signs  of  a  common  origin. 

But  that  general  agreement  no  longer  exists.  While  the  Asiatic 
origin  of  the  Semitic  languages  is  beyond  dispute,  scholars  have 
of  late  years  been  coming  more  and  more  to  the  conclusion  that 
Europe  was  the  cradle  of  the  Aryan  tongues.  Their  European  origin 
was  first  advocated  by  our  countryman  Dr.  Latham,  and  was  sub- 
sequently defended  by  the  eminent  comparative  philologist  Dr. 
Benfey ;  but  it  is  only  within  the  last  half-dozen  years  that  the 
theory  has  won  its  way  to  scientific  recognition.  Different  lines  of 
research  have  been  converging  towards  the  same  result,  and  in- 
dicating North-eastern  Europe  as  the  starting-point  of  the  Indo- 
European  languages,  while  the  evidences  invoked  in  favour  of  their 
Asiatic  origin  have  one  and  all  broken  down. 

These  evidences  chiefly  rested  on  the  supposed  superiority  of 
Sanskrit  over  the  other  Indo-European  languages  as  a  representative 
of  the  parent-speech  from  which  they  were  all  descended.  The 
grammar  and  phonology  of  Sanskrit  were  imagined  to  be  more 
archaic,  more  faithful  to  the  primitive  pattern  than  those  of  its 
sister-tongues.  It  was  argued  that  this  implied  a  less  amount  of 
migration  and  change  on  the  part  of  its  speakers,  a  nearer  residence, 
in  fact,  to  the  region  where  the  parent-speech  had  once  been 
spoken.  As  a  comparison  of  the  words  denoting  certain  objects  in 
the  Indo-European  languages  showed  that  this  region  must  have 
had  a  cold  climate,  it  was  placed  on  the  slopes  of  the  Hindu- Kush 
or  at  the  sources  of  the  Oxus  and  Jaxartes. 


172  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

But  we  now  know  that  instead  of  being  the  most  faithful  repre- 
sentative of  the  parent-speech,  Sanskrit  is  in  many  respects  far  less 
so  than  are  its  sister-languages  of  Europe.  Its  vocabulary,  for 
instance,  has  been  thrown  into  confusion  by  the  coalescence  of  the 
three  primitive  vowel  sounds  a,  e,  6  into  the  single  monotonous  a, 
a  corruption  which  is  paralleled  by  the  coalescence  of  so  many 
vowels  in  modern  cultivated  English  in  the  so-called  "  neutral "  a. 
Greek,  or  even  the  Lithuanian,  which  may  still  be  heard  to-day 
from  the  lips  of  unlettered  peasants,  has  preserved  more  faithfully 
than  the  Sanskrit  of  India  the  features  of  the  parent  Aryan.  If 
the  faithfulness  of  the  record  is  any  proof  of  the  geographical 
proximity  of  one  of  the  Indo-European  languages  to  their  common 
mother,  it  is  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lithuania,  rather  than  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  India,  that  we  ought  to  look  for  traces  of  the  first 
home  of  the  Aryan  family. 

But  the  theory  of  the  Asiatic  origin  of  the  Indo-European  family 
has  not  only  been  deprived  of  its  main  support  by  the  dethrone- 
ment of  Sanskrit,  and  the  transfer  of  its  primacy  to  the  languages 
of  Europe,  what  Professor  Max  Miiller  has  termed  "  linguistic 
palaeontology  "  has  further  assisted  in  overthrowing  the  crumbling 
edifice.  When  we  find  words  of  similar  phonetic  form  and  similar 
meaning  in  both  the  Asiatic  and  the  European  branches  of  the 
Aryan  family — words,  too,  which  it  can  be  shown  have  not  been 
borrowed  by  one  Indo-European  language  from  another — we  are 
justified  in  concluding  that  the  objects  or  phenomena  denoted  by 
them  were  already  known  to  the  speakers  of  the  parent  language. 


Four  years  ago  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  linguistic  palaeon- 
tology of  the  Aryan  languages  was  made  by  Professor  Otto 
Schrader.  For  the  first  time  the  question  was  approached  from 
the  present  level  of  comparative  philology,  and  all  words  were 
excluded  from  comparison  which  did  not  satisfy  the  requirements 
of  phonetic  law.  The  results  were  sadly  disquieting  to  the  be^ 
lievers  in  that  idyllic  picture  of  primitive  Aryan  life  to  which  we 
had  so  long  been  accustomed.  Professor  Schrader  proved  that  the 
speakers  of  the  parent  Aryan  language  must  not  only  have  lived  in 
a  cold  climate — a  fact  which  was  known  already — but  that  they 
must  have  lived  in  the  stone  age,  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts 
only  to  protect  them  from  the  rigours  of  the  winter,  and  nothing 
better  than  stone  weapons  with  which  to  ward  off  the  attacks  of 
savage  animals.  Their  general  culture  was  on  a  level  with  their 
general  surroundings.  It  was  little  better  than  that  of  the  Fuegian 
before  he  came  into  contact  with  European  missionaries.  The 
minuteness  with  which  the  varying  degrees  of  family  relationship 
were  named,  instead  of  indicating  an  advanced  social  life,  as  was 
formerly  imagined,  really  indicated  the  direct  contrary.  The 
primitive  Aryan  was  indeed  acquainted  with  fire ;  he  could  even 
sew  his  skins  together  by  means  of  needles  of  bone  ;  and  possibly 
could  spin  a  little  with  the  help  of  rude  spindle- whorls ;  but  beyond 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  173 

this  his  knowledge  of  the  arts  does  not  seem  to  have  extended.  If 
he  made  use  of  gold  or  meteoric  iron,  it  was  only  of  the  unwrought 
pieces  which  he  picked  up  from  the  ground  and  employed  as 
ornaments ;  of  the  working  of  metals  he  was  entirely  ignorant. 
But  he  already  practised  a  kind  of  rude  agriculture,  though  the  art 
of  grinding  corn  was  as  yet  unknown,  and  crushed  spelt  was  eaten 
instead  of  bread  ;  while  the  community  to  which  he  belonged  was 
essentially  that  of  pastoral  nomads,  who  changed  from  season  to 
season  the  miserable  beehive  huts  of  wattled  mud  in  which  they 
lived.  They  could  count  at  least  as  far  as  a  hundred,  and  be- 
lieved in  a  multitude  of  ghosts  and  goblins,  making  offerings  to  the 
dead,  and  seeing  in  the  bright  sky  a  potent  deity. 

In  calling  the  speaker  of  the  Aryan  parent-speech  the  primitive 
Aryan  I  must  not  be  supposed  to  be  prejudging  the  question  as  to 
the  particular  race  to  which  he  belonged.  This  is  a  question 
which  has  recently  been  handled  with  great  ability  by  an  Austrian 
anthropologist — Dr.  Karl  Penka.  In  a  remarkable  book,  published 
at  the  end  of  last  year,  he  endeavours  to  substantiate  the  hypo- 
thesis advanced  in  an  earlier  work,  and  to  show  that  the  first 
speakers  of  the  Aryan  languages  were  the  fair-haired,  blue-eyed, 
iight-complexioned  dolichocephalic  race,  which  is  still  found  in  its 
greatest  purity  in  Scandinavia ;  that  it  was  this  race  which  in  the 
neolithic  period  spread  southwards,  imposing  its  yoke  upon  subject 
populations,  like  the  Norsemen  and  Normans  of  later  days,  and 
carrying  with  it  the  dialects  which  afterwards  developed  into  the 
Aryan  languages  ;  and  that,  finally,  it  was  the  same  race  which  in 
the  remote  days  of  the  palaeolithic  age  inhabited  western  and 
central  Europe,  where  it  has  left  its  remains  in  the  typical  skulls 
of  Cannstatt  and  Engis.  Dr.  Penka  would  ascribe  to  its  long 
residence  in  the  semi-arctic  climate  of  paleolithic  Europe  the 
permanent  blanching  of  its  skin  and  hair — a  form  of  albinoism 
which  Dr.  Poesche  in  1878  endeavoured  to  explain  by  the  climatic 
conditions  of  the  Rokitno  marshes  in  Russia,  where  he  placed  the 
cradle  of  the  white  Aryan  race. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  all  the  probabilities  are  at  present  on 
Dr.  Penka's  side,  so  far  as  his  main  contention  is  concerned. 
Without  denying  that  the  speakers  of  the  Aryan  parent  speech 
may  have  already  included  slaves  or  wives  of  an  alien  race,  it  is 
probable  that  the  majority  of  them  were  of  one  blood.  They 
formed  a  single  community,  nomad  it  is  true,  and  therefore  less 
likely  to  mix  with  foreigners,  but  still  sufficiently  a  single  com- 
munity to  speak  a  language  the  several  dialects  of  which  were  so 
alike  as  to  be  mutually  intelligible.  In  the  social  condition  in 
which  the  speakers  were,  and  in  an  age  when  the  waste  lands  of 
of  the  world  were  still  extensive,  the  greater  part  of  such  a  com- 
munity must  necessarily,  we  should  think,  have  belonged  to  the 

same  race Penka  has    striven  to  show  that    the 

animals  whose  bones  or  shells  are  found  in  the  Scandinavian 
kitchen-middens  are  just  those  whose  names  are  common  to  the 
Indo-European  languages,  or  at  all  events  the  European  section  of 


174  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

the  latter.  Now,  the  skulls  disinterred  from  the  prehistoric  burial- 
places  of  Denmark  and  the  southern  districts  of  Sweden  and 
Norway  are,  for  the  most  part,  identical  with  the  skulls  still 
characteristic  of  the  Scandinavian  population  where  they  accom- 
pany a  fair  skin  and  light  hair  and  eyes.  By  combining  these  two 
facts  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  fair  Scandinavian  race  is 
the  modern  descendant  of  the  race  which  spoke  the  parent 
language  of  the  primitive  Aryan  community,  and  left  traces  of 
itself  in  the  Scandinavian  kitchen-middens.  The  conclusion  is 
supported  by  the  testimony  of  history.  On  the  one  hand,  we  have 
the  testimony  of  classical  writers  that  the  Aryan-speaking  Kelts  of 
the  Christian  era  were  not  the  dark,  small-limbed  population  which 
now  occupies  the  larger  part  of  France,  but  men  of  large  stature, 
with  the  blue  eyes  and  fair  hair  of  their  Teutonic  brethren  ;  while 
the  ideal  specimens  of  humanity  conceived  of  by  the  aristocratic 
art  of  Italy  and  Greece  were  the  golden-haired  Apollo  and  the 
blue-eyed  Athene.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  from  Scandinavia 
that  in  later  times  other  bands  of  warriors  poured  forth,  who  made 
their  way  into  the  countries  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  even  Asia, 
and  established  themselves  as  conquering  aristocracies  in  the 
midst  of  subject  populations.  The  Kelts  succeeded  in  reaching 
Asia  Minor,  the  Scando-German  hordes  overthrew  the  Roman 
empire,  the  Northmen  established  themselves  from  Russia  on  the 
east  to  Iceland  and  Greenland  on  the  west,  and  the  Normans  made 
Sicily  their  own  long  before  the  days  of  the  German  Frederick. 
The  only  point  in  which  the  later  historical  irruptions  of  the 
Scandinavian  peoples  differed  from  their  prehistoric  ones  was,  that 
while  the  later  irruptions  were  made  by  sea,  the  older  were  made 
by  land.  The  sail  was  unknown  to  the  tribes  of  the  north  until 
the  age  of  their  intercourse  with  the  Romans,  from  whom  they 
borrowed  both  the  conception  and  the  name  of  the  sagulum,  or 
"sail."  The  course  of  their  migrations  must  have  followed  the 
valleys  of  the  great  rivers. 

If  southern  Scandinavia  is  thus  to  be  regarded  as  the  original 
home  of  the  Aryan  languages,  and  the  race  which  first  spoke  those 
languages,  and  which  we  may  therefore  call  Aryan,  is  to  be  iden- 
tified with  the  Scandinavian  type,  it  follows  that  the  further  south 
and  east  we  advance  from  this  primary  starting-point  the  less  pure 
will  the  type  become.  It  will  be  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that 
starting-point  and  in  northern  Europe  that  we  shall  expect  to  find 
the  largest  number  of  undiluted  Aryan  languages  and  the  purest 
examples  of  the  Aryan  breed.  In  Greece  and  Armenia,  in  Persia 
and  India  we  must  look  for  mixture  and  decay.  And  such  indeed 
is  the  fact.  Mr.  Wharton  has  found,  by  a  careful  analysis  of  the 
Greek  lexicon,  that  out  of  2,740  primary  words  only  1,580  can  be 
referred  with  any  probability  to  an  Indo-European  origin,  while 
the  prevailing  racial  type  in  ancient  as  in  modern  Greece  was  dis- 
tinctly non-Aryan.  Indeed,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
culture  revealed  by  the  excavations  at  Mykenae,  Tiryns,  and  on 
other  prehistoric  Greek  sites  belonged  not  to  a  Hellenic  but  to  a 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  175- 

pre-Hellenic  population,  and  that  the  Aryan  Greeks  first  made 
their  appearance  in  Hellas  at  the  epoch  of  what  later  tradition 
called  the  Dorian  immigration.  It  was  to  the  north  that  Greek 
legends  pointed  as  the  primaeval  home  of  the  Hellenic  race  and 
civilisation,  and  Dodona  ever  continued  to  be  revered  as  the  oldest 
sanctuary  of  the  Hellenic  world.  In  India  it  is  notorious  that  the 
Aryan-speaking  Hindus  entered  the  country  from  the  north-west,, 
and  failed  to  spread  far  into  the  burning  plains  of  the  south.  The 
date  of  their  invasion  is  uncertain,  but  for  myself  I  have  grave 
doubts  whether  it  was  earlier  than  the  eighth  or  even  the  seventh 
century  B.C.  At  all  events  it  was  not  until  after  the  seventh  cen- 
tury B.C.,  as  we  now  know  from  the  express  testimony  of  the 
cuneiform  inscriptions  of  Van,  that  the  Aryan-speaking  Armenians 
entered  the  land  which  now  bears  their  name,  and  recent  philo- 
logical researches  have  confirmed  the  assertion  of  Greek  writers 
that  the  Armenians  were  a  colony  of  the  Phrygians  who  had  them- 
selves emigrated  from  Thrace.  Up  to  the  closing  days  of  the 
Assyrian  empire  the  monuments  make  it  clear  that  no  Aryans  had 
as  yet  settled  between  the  Kurdish  ranges  on  the  east  and  the 
Halys  on  the  west. 

But  while  the  extension  into  Asia  of  what  I  will  now,  following 
Penka's  example,  call  the  Aryan  race,  seems  to  be  referred  to  a 
comparatively  recent  period,  there  is  a  curious  fact  which  goes  to 
show  that  the  same,  or  a  closely,  allied,  race  once  spread  along  the 
northern  coast  of  Africa.  On  Egyptian  monuments,  which  date 
back  to  the  sixteenth  century  before  our  era,  the  Libyan  tribes  of 
this  district  are  described  and  depicted  as  white.  Their  des- 
cendants are  still  to  be  found  in  the  mountainous  parts  of  fhe 
coast,  those  of  Algeria  being  commonly  known  under  the  name  of 
Kabyles.  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  them  last  winter,  and  must  confess 
to  being  greatly  .struck  by  their  appearance.  I  had  known,  ef 
course,  that  they  belonged  to  the  white  race  and  were  characterised 
by  blue  eyes  and  light  hair,  but  I  was  not  prepared  to  find  that 
their  complexion  was  of  that  transparent  whiteness  which  freckles 
readily  and  is  supposed  to  mark  the  so-called  red  Kelt.  They  are 
dolichocephalic,  and  as  their  skulls  agree  with  those  discovered  in 
the  prehistoric  cromlechs  of  Boknia  and  other  places  it  is  plain 
that  their  distinctive  features  are  not  due,  as  was  formerly  sup- 
posed, to  intermixture  with  the  Vandals. 

The  cromlechs  in  which  they  once  buried  their  dead  are  quite  as 
remarkable  as  their  physical  characteristics.  Cromlechs  of  a  similar 
shape  are  found  extending  through  Spain  and  western  France  to 
the  northern  portion  of  the  British  Isles.  Since  dolichocephalic 
skulls  occur  in  connection  with  them,while  the  physical  character- 
istics of  the  modern  Kabyle  resemble  so  strikingly  those  of  a  par- 
ticular portion  of  the  modern  Irish  population,  we  seem  driven  to 
infer  that  the  Kabyle  and  the  "  red  Kelt "  are  alike  fragments  of  a 
race  that  once  spread  from  Scotland  and  Ireland  to  the  northern 
coast  of  Africa  and  interred  its  dead  in  chambers  formed  of  five 
large  blocks  of  stone.  Though  the  custom  of  burying  in  these 


176  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

cromlechs  continued  into  the  bronze  age,  the  majority  of  them,  go 
back  to  the  neolithic  period. 

Are  we  to  suppose,  then,  that  one  stream  of  Aryan  immigrants, 
after  making  its  way  to  the  west,  wandered  along  the  western 
coast  of  Europe,  and  eventually  crossed  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar 
and  took  possession  of  Africa  ?  Or  are  we  to  believe  that  the 
Aryan  race  of  Southern  Scandinavia  was  allied  in  blood,  though 
not  in  language,  with  a  population  which  inhabited  the  extreme 
west  of  Europe,  and  had,  it  may  be,  at  the  close  of  the  glacial 
epoch,  passed  over  to  the  neighbouring  mountains  of  Africa  ?  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  Kabyle  complexion  is  not  precisely 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Scandinavian.  Both  are  white,  but  the 
skin  of  the  one  has  a  semi-transparent  appearance,  while  the  white- 
ness of  the  other  may  be  described  as  mealy.  It  will  be  worth 
while  to  determine  whether  between  the  dolichocephalism  of  the 
Kabyle  and  the  dolichocephalism  of  the  Scandinavian  any  dis- 
tinction can  be  drawn. 

The  question  has  a  bearing  on  the  origin  of  a  part  of  our  own  popu- 
lation. I  have  already  compared  the  Kabyle  with  the  "  red  Kelt." 
But  the  expression  "red  Kelt,"  like  most  popular  expressions,  is 
by  no  means  exact.  It  confuses  in  one  two  distinct  types.  The 
large-limbed,  red-haired  Highlander,  who  calls  to  mind  the  descrip- 
tion given  of  the  Kelts  by  the  Latin  historians,  stands  in  marked 
contrast  to  the  small-limbed,  light-complexioned  Kelt  of  certain 
districts  in  Ireland,  whose  skin  is  freckled  rather  than  burnt  red 
by  the  sun.  The  determination  of  the  several  racial  elements  in 
these  islands  is  particularly  difficult  on  account  of  the  intermixture 
of  population,  and  nowhere  is  the  difficulty  greater  than  in  the 
case  of  the  Keltic  portion  of  the  community.  Long  before  the 
Roman  conquest  the  intrusive  Aryan  Kelt  had  been  intermarrying 
with  the  older  inhabitants  of  the  country,  who  doubtless  belonged 
to  more  than  one  race,  the  result  being  that  the  so-called  Keltic 
race  is  an  amalgamation  of  races  differing  physiologically  but 
dominated  by  a  common  moral  and  intellectual  character — the 
consequence  of  subjection  for  a  long  series  of  generations  to  the 
same  conditions  of  life.  It  has  become  a  commonplace  of  ethno- 
logy that  the  so-called  Keltic  race  includes  not  only  the  fair  com- 
plexioned  Aryan  Kelt,  but  also  the  "black  Kelt"  or  Iberian  with 
dark  skin,  black  hair  and  eyes,  and  small  limbs.  The  subject, 
however,  is  much  more  complex  than  this  simple  division  would 
imply.  We  have  seen  that  under  the  "  red  Kelt "  are  included 
two  distinct  varieties  ;  the  "  black  Kelt "  is  equally  irreducible  to 
a  single  type,  while  the  fact  that  two  types  of  "red "  and  "  black  " 
recur  in  the  same  family — my  own,  for  example — not  only  indi- 
cates their  long-continued  intermixture,  but  suggests  the  existence 
of  intermediate  varieties.  The  limitations  and  relations  of  dolicho- 
cephalism and  brachycephalism  within  the  race  also  need  further 
investigation.  I  hope  that  this  meeting,  held  as  it  is  on  the 
borders  of  what  is  still  a  distinctively  Keltic  country,  may  help 
to  settle  these  and  similar  problems. 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  177 

Meanwhile  I  will  conclude  this  address,  which  has  already 
extended  to  an  inordinate  length,  by  directing  your  attention  to 
two  lines  of  evidence  which  have  an  important  bearing  on  the 
question  of  the  extent  to  which  the  Keltic  element  enters  into  the 
existing  British  population.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  the  fashion 
to  assert  that  the  English  people  were  mainly  Teutonic  in  origin, 
and  that  the  older  British  population  had  been  exterminated  in  the 
protracted  struggle  it  carried  on  with  the  heathen  hordes  of  Atglo- 
Saxon  invaders.  The  statement  in  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle  "  was 
quoted  that  the  garrison  of  Anderida,  or  Pevensey,  when  captured 
by  the  Saxons  in  A.D.  491,  was  all  put  to  the  sword.  But  it  is 
obvious  that  the  fact  would  not  have  been  singled  out  for  special 
mention  had  it  not  been  exceptional,  while  it  is  equally  obvious 
that  invaders  who  came  by  sea  can  hardly  have  brought  their 
wives  and  children  with  them,  and  must  have  sought  for  both 
wives  and  slaves  in  the  natives  of  the  island.  Mr.  Coote,  in  his 
"  Romans  of  Britain,"  and  Mr.  Seebohm,  in  his  "  English  Village 
Community,"  have  pointed  out  the  continuity  of  laws  and 
customs  and  territorial  rights  between  the  Roman  and  the  Saxon 
eras,  presupposing  a  continuity  of  population,  and  anthropologists 
have  insisted  that  the  survival  of  early  racial  types  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  settlement  of  the 
Bretons  who  followed  William  the  Conqueror,  or  of  the  Welsh 
who  came  into  England  when  the  penal  laws  against  them  were 
repealed  by  Henry  VIII.  But  the  advocates  of  the  theory  of 
extermination  had  always  one  argument  which  seemed  to  them 
unanswerable,  and  which  indeed  was  the  origin  of  their  theory. 
The  language  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  contains  scarcely  any  words 
borrowed  from  Keltic.  Such  a  fact  was  held  to  be  inexplicable 
except  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  speakers  of  the  Keltic  dialects 
were  all  exterminated  before  any  intercourse  was  possible  between 
them  and  the  invading  Teuton. 

But  I  think  I  can  show  that  the  fact  admits  of  quite  another 
explanation.  Roman  Britain  was  in  the  condition  of  Roman 
Gaul ;  it  was  a  Roman  province,  so  thoroughly  Romanised  indeed 
that  before  the  end  of  the  first  century,  according  to  Tacitus 
("Agric.,"  18-21),  even  the  inhabitants  of  North  Wales  had 
adopted  the  Roman  dress  and  the  Roman  habits  of  luxury.  After 
four  centuries  of  Roman  domination  it  is  not  likely  under  these 
circumstances  that  the  dialects  of  the  British  tribes  would  have 
resisted  the  encroachment  of  the  Latin  language  any  more  than 
did  the  dialects  of  Gaul.  The  language,  not  only  of  government 
and  law,  but  also  of  trade  and  military  service,  was  Latin,  while 
the  slaves  and  servants  who  cultivated  the  soil  were  bound  to 
understand  the  language  of  their  masters.  Moreover  Britain  was 
a  military  colony ;  the  natives  were  drafted  into  the  army,  and 
there  perforce  had  to  speak  Latin.  If  Latin  had  not  been  the 
language  of  the  country  at  the  time  the  Romans  left  it,  the  fact 
would  have  been  little  short  of  a  miracle. 

That  it  was  so  is  certified  by  more  than  one  piece  of»  evidence. 
VOL.  XVII.  N 


178  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

The  inscriptions  which  have  survived  from  the  period  of  the 
Roman  occupation  are  numerous  ;  with  the  exception  of  three  or 
four  Greek  ones,  they  are  all  in  Latin.  Of  a  Keltic  language  or 
dialect  there  is  no  trace.  When  the  Romans  had  departed,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  Wales  and  Cornwall  had  been  cut  off  from 
intercourse  with  the  civilised  world,  Latin  was  still  the  ordinary 
language  of  the  mortuary  texts.  It  is  only  gradually  that  Keltic 
oghams  take  their  place  by  the  side  of  the  Roman  characters. 
When  St.  Patrick  writes  a  letter  to  the  Welsh  prince  of  Cardigan- 
shire, addressed  not  only  to  him  but  to  his  people  as  well,  it  is  in 
the  Latin  language ;  when  St.  Grermanus  crosses  into  Britain  to 
settle  a  theological  controversy,  and  leads  the  people  to  victory 
against  the  Saxon  invader,  he  has  no  difficulty  in  being  under- 
stood ;  and  the  proper  names  of  British  leaders  continue  to  be 
Roman  long  after  the  departure  of  the  Roman  legions.  What 
clinches  the  matter,  however,  is  the  positive  statement  of  Gildas, 
the  British  writer,  the  solitary  witness  who  has  survived  to  us 
from  the  dark  period  of  heathen  invasion.  He  asserts  that  the 
ships  called  "  keels  "  by  the  Saxons  were  called  longce  naves  "  in 
our  language"  ("nostra  lingua").-1  In  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century,  therefore,  Latin  was  still  the  language  of  the  Kelt  south 
of  the  Roman  Wall.  Such  being  the  case  it  is  not  Keltic  but 
Latin  words  that  we  must  expect  to  have  been  borrowed  by  Anglo- 
Saxon,  if  the  British  population,  instead  of  being  exterminated, 
lived  under  and  by  the  side  of  their  Teutonic  invaders.  Now 
these  borrowed  Latin  words  exist  in  plenty.  They  have  come  not 
only  from  the  speech  of  the  towns,  but  also  from  the  speech  of  the 
country,  proving  that  the  country  population  must  have  used 
Latin  like  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns.  In  an  interesting  little 
book  by  Professor  Earle  on  the  Anglo-Saxon  names  of  plants  a 
list  is  given  of  the  names  of  trees  and  vegetables  that  have  been 
taken  from  a  Latin  source.  Where  the  tree  or  the  vegetable  was 
one  with  which  the  invaders  had  not  been  acquainted  in  their 
original  home,  the  name  they  gave  to  it  was  a  Latin  one,  like  the 
cherry  or  cerasus,  the  box  or  buxus,  the  fennel  or  feniculum,  the 
mallow  or  malva,  the  poppy  or  papaver,  the  radish  or  radix.  Such 
names  they  could  have  heard  only  from  the  serfs  who  tilled  the 
ground  for  their  new  lords,  not  from  the  traders  and  soldiers  of 
the  cities.  It  is  much  the  same  when  we  turn  to  the  names 
of  agricultural  implements  which  imply  a  higher  order  of  culture 
than  the  simple  plough  or  mattock,  the  name  of  which  last, 
however,  is  itself  of  Keltic  origin.  Thus  the  coulter  is  the  Latin 
culter,  the  sickle  is  the  Latin  secula.  That  other  agricultural  imple- 
ments bore  Teutonic  names  proves  merely  that  the  Saxons  and 
Angles  were  already  acquainted  with  them  before  they  had  quitted 
their  primitive  seats. 

The  philological  argument  has  thus  been  cut  away  from  under 
the  feet  of   the  advocates  of   the  theory  of   extermination,  and 

1  "  Hist.,"  p.  23. 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  179 

shown  to  tell  precisely  the  contrary  tale.  It  has  disappeared  like 
the  philological  argument  by  which  the  theory  of  the  origin  of 
the  Aryans  in  Asia  was  once  supposed  to  be  supported.  But 
there  still  remains  one  difficulty  in  our  path. 

This  is  the  fact  that  the  languages  spoken  in  Wales,  and  till 
recently  in  Cornwall,  are  Keltic  and  not  Latin.  If  Latin  had 
been  the  language  of  the  Keltic  population  of  southern  Britain 
when  the  Romans  left  the  island,  how  is  it  that  where  the  Keltic 
population  still  retains  a  language  of  its  own  that  language  is  Keltic  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  is  to  be  found  in  history  and  tradition. 
Up  to  the  sixth  century  the  Teutonic  invaders  gained  slowly 
but  steadily  upon  the  resisting  Britons.  They  forced  their  way 
to  the  frontiers  of  what  is  now  Wales,  and  there  their  further 
course  was  checked.  The  period  when  this  took  place  is  the 
period  when  Welsh  literature  first  begins.  But  it  begins,  not 
in  Wales,  but  in  Strathclyde  or  South-western  Scotland,  to  the 
north  of  the  Roman  Wall.  Its  first  records  relate  to  battles  that 
took  place  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Carlisle.  From  thence  its 
bards  and  heroes  moved  southwards  into  North  Wales.  Tradition 
commemorated  the  event  as  the  arrival  in  Wales  of  "  Cunedda's 
men."  The  sons  of  Cunedda  founded  the  lines  of  princes  who 
subsequently  ruled  in  Wales,  and  the  old  genealogies  mark  the 
event  by  suddenly  substituting  princes  with  Welsh  names  for 
princes  with  Latin  names.  The  rude  Keltic  tribes  of  Strathclyde 
came  to  the  assistance  of  their  more  cultured  brethren  in  the 
south,  checking  the  further  progress  of  the  foreigner  and  imposing 
their  domination  and  language  upon  the  older  population  of  the 
country.  It  is  probable  that  the  disappearance  of  Latin  was 
further  aided  not  only  by  the  destruction  of  the  cities  and  the 
increasing  barbarism  of  the  people,  but  also  by  the  settlement  of 
Irish  colonies,  more  especially  in  South  Wales.  At  all  events  the 
ruin  of  cities  like  Caerleon  and  Caerwent  must  be  ascribed  to  Irish 
marauders.  We  can  now  explain  why  it  is  not  only  that  Wales 
speaks  Welsh  and  not  Latin,  but  also  why  a  part  of  the  country, 
which,  according  to  Professor  Rhys,  was  mostly  peopled  by  Gaelic 
tribes  before  the  Roman  conquest,  speaks  Cymric  and  not  Gaelic. 
As  for  Cornish  its  affinities  are  with  Breton,  and  since  history 
knows  of  frequent  intercourse  between  Cornwall  and  Brittany  in 
the  age  that  followed  the  departure  of  the  Romans  we  may  see  in 
the  Cornish  dialect  the  traces  of  Breton  influence. 

The  arrival  of  "  Cunedda's  men "  and  the  re-Keltisation  of 
Wales  lead  me  to  the  second  line  of  evidence  to  which  I  have 
alluded  above.  The  bearing  of  the  costume  of  a  people  upon 
their  ethnography  is  a  matter  which  has  been  much  neglected. 
But  there  are  few  things  about  which  a  population — more  especially 
in  an  early  stage  of  society — is  so  conservative  as  in  the  matter  of 
dress.  When  we  find  the  Egyptian  sculptor  representing  the 
Hittites  of  the  warm  plains  of  Palestine  clad  in  the  snow-shoes  of 
the  mountaineer  we  are  justified  in  concluding  that  they  must 
have  descended  from  the  ranges  of  the  Taurus,  where  the  bulk  of 


180  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

their  brethren  continued  to  live,  just  as  the  similar  shoes  with 
turned-up  ends  which  the  Turks  have  introduced  among  the  upper 
classes  of  Syria,  Egypt,  and  northern  Africa  point  to  the  northern 
origin  of  the  Turks  themselves.  Such  shoes  are  utterly  unsuited 
for  walking  in  over  a  country  covered  with  grass,  brushwood,  or 
even  stones  ;  they  are  on  the  contrary  admirably  adapted  for  walk- 
ing on  snow. 

Now  the  dress  of  Keltic  Gaul  and  of  southern  Britain  also  when 
the  Romans  first  became  acquainted  with  it  was  the  same  as  the 
dress  which  "  linguistic  palaeontology  "  teaches  us  had  been  worn 
by  the  primitive  Aryans  in  their  first  home.  One  of  its  chief  con- 
stituents were  the  braccw,  or  trousers,  which  accordingly  became 
to  the  Roman  the  symbol  of  the  barbarian.  We  learn,  however, 
from  sculptures  and  other  works  of  art  that  before  the  retirement  of 
the  Romans  from  the  northern  part  of  Europe  they  had  adopted  this 
article  of  clothing,  at  all  events  during  the  winter  months.  That 
the  natives  of  southern  Britain  continued  to  wear  it  after  their 
separation  from  Rome  is  clear  from  a  statement  of  Gildas  ("Hist.," 
19)  in  which  he  refers  in  no  flattering  terms  to  the  kilt  of  the 
Pict  and  the  Scot.  Yet  from  within  a  century  after  the  time  of 
Gildas  there  are  indications  that  the  northern  kilt  which  he  regards 
as  so  strange  and  curious  had  become  the  common  garb  of  Wales. 
When  we  come  down  to  the  twelfth  century  we  find  that  it  is  the 
national  costume.  Giraldus  Cambrensis  gives  us  a  description  of 
the  Welsh  dress  in  his  own  time,  from  which  we  learn  that  it  con- 
sisted simply  of  a  tunic  and  plaid.  It  was  not  until  the  age  of  the 
Tudors,  according  to  Lluyd,  the  Welsh  historian  of  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  that  the  Welsh  exchanged  their  own  for  the  English 
dress.1  The  Welsh  who  served  in  the  army  of  Edward  II  at 
Bannockburn  were  remarked  even  by  the  Lowland  Scotch  for  the 
scantiness  of  their  attire.2  and  we  have  evidence  that  it  was  the 
same  a  century  later.3  If  we  turn  to  Ireland  we  find  that  in  the 
days  of  Spenser,  and  later,  the  national  costume  of  the  Irish  was 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Welsh  and  the  Highland  Scotch.  The 
knee-breeches  and  sword-coat  which  characterise  the  typical  Irish- 
man in  the  comic  papers  are  survivals  of  the  dress  worn  by  the 
English  at  the  time  when  it  was  adopted  in  Ireland. 

The  Highland  dress,  therefore,  was  once  worn  not  only  in  the 
Scotch  Highlands  and  in  Ireland,  but  also  in  Wales.  It  cha- 
racterised the  Keltic  parts  of  Britain  with  the  exception  of 
Cornwall  and  Devonshire.  Yet  we  have  seen  that  up  to  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century,  at  the  period  when  Latin  was  still  the 
language  of  the  fellow-countrymen  of  Gildas,  and  when"  Cunedda's 
men  "  had  not  as  yet  imposed  their  domination  upon  Wales,  the 
old  Keltic  dress  with  trousers  must  have  been  the  one  in  common 
use.  Now  we  can  easily  understand  how  a  dress  of  the  kind  could 

1  "Tho  Breviary  of  Brytaine,"  Twyne's  translation,  page  35  (eel.  1573). 

2  Barbour's  "  Bruce,"  ix,  pages  600-603. 

3  See  Jones'  "  History  of  the  County  of  Brecknock,  vol.  i,  page  283  ;    cc/»t/>. 
"  Archseologia  Cambrensis,"  5th  series,  No.  7  (1885),  page  227. 


Anthropological  Miscdlanea.  181 

have  been  replaced  by  the  kilt  in  warm  countries  like  Italy  and 
Greece  ;  what  is  not  easily  conceivable  is  that  such  a  dress  could 
have  been  replaced  by  the  kilt  in  the  cold  regions  of  the  north.  In 
warm  climates  a  lighter  form  of  clothing  is  readily  adopted ;  in 
cold  climates  the  converse  is  the  case. 

I  see,  consequently,  but  one  solution  of  the  problem  before  us. 
On  the  one  hand,  there  was  the  distinctive  Keltic  dress  of  the 
Roman  age,  which  was  the  same  as  the  dress  of  the  primitive 
Aryan,  and  was  worn  alike  by  the  Kelts  of  Gaul  and  Britain  and 
the  Teutons  of  Germany ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  the  scantier 
and  colder  dress  which  originally  characterised  the  coldest  part  of 
Britain,  and  subsequently  mediaeval  Wales  also.  Must  we  not 
infer,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  aboriginal  population  of  Caledonia 
and  Ireland  was  not  Keltic — or  at  least  not  Aryan  Keltic — and, 
secondly,  that  the  dominant  class  in  Wales  after  the  sixth  century 
came  from  that  northern  portion  of  the  island  where  the  kilt  was 
worn  ?  Both  inferences,  at  all  events,  agree  with  the  conclusions 
which  ethnologists  and  historians  have  arrived  at  upon  other 
grounds. 

Perhaps  what  I  have  been  saying  will  show  that  even  a  subject 
like  the  history  of  dress  will  yield  more  results  to  ethnological 
study  than  is  usually  supposed.  It  will  be  another  illustration  of 
the  fact  that  the  student  of  humanity  cannot  afford  to  neglect  any 
department  of  research  which  has  to  do  wibh  the  life  of  man, 
however  widely  removed  it  may  seem  to  be  from  science  and 
scientific  methods  of  enquiry.  "  Homo  sum  ;  humani  nihil  a  me 
alienum  pnto." 


ON  the  NOTES  sounded  by  MR.  GALTON'S  WHISTLES  for  testing  the 
limit  of  AUDIBILITY  of  SOUND. 

By  W.  N.  SHAW,  Esq.,  M.A. 

IN  order  to  test  the  limit  of  audibility  of  sound,  an  adjustable 
whistle  is  made  by  the  Cambridge  Scientific  Instrument  Company 
on  the  plan  designed  by  Mr.  Galton  some  10  years  ago.  It  is  a 
whistle  with  a  very  narrow  pipe ;  the  length  of  the  pipe  can  be 
adjusted  by  means  of  a  piston,  a  wire  '73  mm.  in  diameter,  sliding 
in  the  pipe.  This  sliding  wire  carries  a  disc,  and  the  frame  to 
which  the  whistle  is  attached  and  in  which  the  outer  end  of  the 
wire  piston  rests,  carries  a  parallel  disc.  As  the  piston  is  pushed 
in,  these  two  discs  approach  each  other.  Their  distance  apart  can 
be  measured  by  inserting  a  graduated  wedge,  and  gives  at  once  the 
length  of  the  pipe  of  the  whistle.  The  whistle  is  blown  by  com- 
pressing a  small  india-rubber  bladder  attached  to  it.  The  apparatus 
is  used  to  determine  the  pitch  of  the  highest  note  audible  by  a 
particular  person  in  the  following  manner.  The  piston  is  adjusted 
till  the  vibration  produced  by  the  whistle  is  just  inaudible ;  the 
distance  between  the  discs  is  then  read,  giving  a  length  of  whistle 

N   2 


182  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

pipe  I.  From  this  observation,  the  pitch  of  the  corresponding 
note  can  be  calculated  thus  :  —  disregarding  all  corrections,  the  wave 
length  of  the  note  X  in  free  air  should  be  4  I  ;  and  if  v  be  the 
velocity  of  sound  in  air  (at  the  temperature  of  observation)  and 
N  the  vibration  number  or  pitch  of  the  note  — 


The  corrections  which  have  been  disregarded  in  assuming  this 
simple  formula  arise  from  the  following  considerations  :  — 

(1.)  The  velocity  of  sound  in  the  narrow  pipe  of  the  whistle  is 
not  the  same  as  in  free  air,  so  that  v  cannot  fairly  be  substituted 
from  the  known  value  of  the  velocity  of  sound  in  air.  The  correc- 
tion on  this  account  cannot  be  accurately  arrived  at,  for  the  change 
in  the  velocity,  while  it  increases  with  a  diminishing  diameter  of 
pipe  is  less  for  high  notes  than  for  low  ones,  and  the  relation 
between  the  value  of  the  correction  and  the  pitch  —  a  matter  of 
great  importance  when  the  pitch  is  very  high  —  is  not  well  under- 
stood (see  Wiillner  "  Experimental-  Physik,"  vol.  1,  p.  799). 

(2.)  Four  times  the  measured  length  of  an  ordinary  organ  pipe 
is  not  found  to  correspond  to  the  true  wave  length  of  the  note 
produced  :  the  formula  in  such  cases  is  more  accurately  — 


-  _ 

~  4  (I  +  3)' 

where  x  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  correction  to  the  observed  length  of 
pipe. 

This  gives  satisfactory  results  with  organ  pipes.  The  value  of  x 
for  a  pipe  with  a  width  of  40  mm.  and  a  length  about  seven 
times  as  great,  was  determined  by  Wertheim  to  be  1'5  times  the 
diameter,  and  the  correction  in  other  cases  roughly  corresponded. 
I  know  of  no  observations  with  very  narrow  pipes  and  high  notes 
from  which  the  corresponding  correction  can  be  drawn. 

This  correction  to  the  length  of  the  pipe  may  moreover  be 
affected  by  the  pressure  of  the  air  by  which  the  whistle  is  blown. 
The  whistles  require  a  pressure  of  some  20  cm.  of  water  to  make 
them  speak,  so  that  there  is  a  possibility  of  variation  much 
greater  than  that  which  occurs  with  an  ordinary  organ  pipe  re- 
quiring a  very  small  air-pressure.  The  effect  of  increasing  the 
pressure,  as  will  be  shewn  below,  is  to  raise  the  pitch  of  the  note, 
or,  in  other  words,  to  diminish  the  value  of  the  correction  x. 

The  acoustical  properties  of  such  whistles  seemed,  therefore,  to 
require  some  independent  investigation  ;  and,  at  the  request  of 
Mr.  H.  Darwin,  I  arranged  an  experimental  investigation  of  three 
whistles,  which  was  carried  out  for  me  by  Mr.  F.  M.  Turner  of 
Trinity  College.  What  was  required  was  some  method  of  deter- 
mining the  pitch  of  the  note  of  the  whistle  which  should  be 
independent  of  the  calculation  I  have  discussed.  For  this  purpose 
it  appeared  that  an  experimental  method  suggested  by  Lord  Ray- 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  183 

leigh  ("  Phil.  Mag."  [5],  vii,  p.  153)  would  be  particularly  suitable. 
The  method  depends  upon,  the  behaviour  of  a  "  sensitive  flame," 
when  a  high  note  is  sounded.  The  coal-gas  flame  issuing  from  a 
pin-hole  burner  becomes  "  sensitive  "  if  the  gas  is  supplied  at  a 
sufficiently  high  pressure  (say  10  inches  of  water,  the  ordinary  gas 
supply  pressure  being  about  1  inch),  so  that  a  flame  about  18  inches 
long  is  obtained  just  on  the  point  of  flaring.  A  high  note,  such  as 
those  caused  by  rattling  a  bunch  of  keys,  or  a  hiss,  makes  the  flame 
flare,  and  it  continues  to  flare  as  long  as  the  note  sounds,  recovering 
its  steadiness  when  the  sound  ceases. 

If  a  continuous  high  note  is  made  by  blowing  a  whistle  or  "bird- 
call "  by  means  of  a  weighted  gas  bag,  and  at  some  distance  from 
the  whistle  a  plane  vertical  surface  is  erected,  so  that  the  waves 
of  sound  are  reflected  normally,  the  interference  of  the  reflected 
waves  with  the  subsequent  incident  waves  produces  a  series  of 
nodes  with  intervening  loops  in  the  space  between  the  whistle 
and  the  wall.  Lord  Rayleigh  has  shewn  that  if  the  sensitive 
flame  is  moved  into  various  positions  in  this  space,  the  whistle 
will  flare  everywhere  except  at  the  nodes,  and  there  the  flame 
will  be,  comparatively  speaking,  undisturbed.  The  position  of 
the  nodes  can  therefore  be  identified  by  means  of  the  sensitive 
flame,  and,  as  the  distance  between  consecutive  nodes  is  half  a 
wave-length,  the  wave-length  of  the  note  in  free  air  is  easily 
deduced  from  observation  of  the  internodal  distance  ;  if  X  be  the 
wave-length  so  obtained,  N"  the  vibration  frequency  of  the  note, 
and  v  the  velocity  of  sound,  which  may  be  quite  safely  assumed 

v 
as  known,  N"  =    -r- ,  and  no  correction  is  required. 

A  number  of  observations  were  taken  by  Mr.  Turner  on  this 
plan  with  three  whistles,  denoted  A,  B,  and  G  respectively,  the 
<^as  for  the  sensitive  flame  was  supplied  from  a  gas-holder  that 
could  be  loaded  at  pleasure,  and  a  gas-bag  furnished  air  to  the 
whistles.  A  plate  of  glass  served  as  a  reflecting  wall.  The  pres- 
sures of  the  air  and  gas  were  measured  by  means  of  \J  tubes  con- 
taining water. 

This  method  proved  to  be  applicable  to  notes  with  a  pipe- 
length  between  3  mm.  and  7'6  mm.  The  practical  reasons  against 
its  use  for  other  notes  are  as  follows : — A  particular  flame  is 
not  sensitive  for  all  high  notes  within  the  range  of  a  whistle  at 
the  same  time,  but  the  gas  pressure  can  always  be  adjusted  and 
a  flame  obtained  which  flares  when  a  given  note  is  blown  on 
the  whistle,  within  the  range  of  9  mm.  pipe  length  to  half 
mm.  or  less,  far  beyond  the  limit  of  audibility.1  My  own  ears 
cannot  appreciate  a  note  with  a  pipe-length  less  than  3' 7  mm.  Mr. 

1  Under  favourable  conditions  the  behaviour  of  the  sensitive  flame  when  the 
whistle  is  blown  as  in  actual  practice,  by  squeezing  the  india-rubber  bladder,  is 
very  striking.  As  the  length  of  the  pipe  is  gradually  shortened,  the  flame  gives 
a  short  flare  for  each  puff  of  air  until  the  piston  is  pushed  quite  home,  when  no 
flare  occurs.  It  would,  however,  not  be  safe  to  make  any  inference  as  to  the/ 
pitcli  of  the  note  for  lengths  less  than  half  a  milliineti-e. 


184 


Anthropological  Miscellanea, 


Turner's  limit  is  3'8,  so  that  the  flame  responds  to  continuous 
sounds  at  least  three  octaves  above  the  highest  sounds  commonly 
audible.  But  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  get  the  reflexion  nodes 
well  marked  as  points  of  minimum  flaring ;  the  pressure  of  the 
gas  requires  careful  adjustment  in  any  case,  and  we  were  unable 
with  any  adjustment  to  get  nodes  for  pipe  lengths  greater  than 
7'6  mm.  or  less  than  3  mm.  This  range  embraces  notes  from 
8,000  to  21,000  complete  vibrations  per  second.  I  cannot  safely 
assign  any  reason  for  our  inability  to  get  nodes  for  higher  pitches ;  it 
may  be  due  to  the  comparatively  large  area  of  the  section  of  the 
flame  at  its  sensitive  part,  or  to  the  continuous  effect  of  disturbing 
vibrations  which, being  inaudible,  cannot  otherwise  be  perceived;  but 
even  as  the  case  stands  we  have  measured  the  nodal  distances  of 
notes  a  major  third  higher  than  anything  that  either  of  ns  could 
hear,  and  it  is  possible  that  with  other  flames  a  higher  limit  may 
be  reached.  For  wave-lengths  longer  than  34  mm.  the  flame 
had  to  be  made  so  sensitive  that  it  was  unstable  and  no  satisfac- 
tory observations  could  be  made. 

In  each  determination  of  an  internodal  distance  the  positions  of 
a  large  number  of  points  of  minimum  flaring  at  different  distances 
from  the  reflecting  wall  were  read  many  times  over  and  a  mean 
result  deduced. 

The  following  specimen  will  exemplify  the  agreement  between  the 
observations,  and  show  how  the  mean  value  is  deduced. 

WHISTLE  A. 

Length  of  whistle  7'1  mm. 
Pressure  of  air  blowing  the  whistle  =  26'4  cm.  of  water. 


No.  of 
the  node. 

Observations  of  distance  of  nodes  from  the 
wall  in  mm. 

Mean 
distance. 

Calculated 
half  wave- 
length. 

1 

18-2 

18-4        18-2 

18-3 

18-3 

2 

33-1 

34  -0        32  -7 

34-8 

33-6 

16-8 

3 

48-0 

50-0        51-7 

49-0 

49-7 

16-6 

4 

68-5 

66-0        68-0 

64-5        65-1 

66-4 

16-6 

5 

83-2 

81-0        82-2 

83-8 

82-5 

16-5 

6 

101-0 

99-3 

100-2 

16-7 

7 

116-3 

119  -4      118  -0 

117-9 

16-6 

In  this  and  some  other  cases  the  length  calculated  from  the  first 
node  is  far  greater  than  that  from  any  of  the  others.  This  may 
be  due  to  the  heating  effect  of  the  flame,  which  cannot  well  be 
allowed  for.  We  thought  better  therefore  to  leave  out  the  first 
position  in  all  cases.  The  mean  result  of  this  series  then  will  be — • 

Half  wave-length =16'63  mm. 

All  the  mean  results  obtained  are  given  in  the  following 
table  : — 


Anthropological  Miscellanea. 
TABLE  OF  RESULTS. 


185 


Whistle 
used. 

Pressure  of  air  in 
cm.  of  water. 

Length  of  whistle 
in  mm. 

Quarter  wave-length, 
in  free  air  in  mm. 

A 

16-7 

3-0 

3-96 

16-9 

3-3 

4-15 

. 

27  5 

5-0 

6-65 

" 

26-0 

6-53 

19-3 

7'40 

£ 

32-8 

6-30 

21-4 

7-05 

C 

29-1 

6-32 

22-8 

6-50 

A 

26-4 

7-1 

8-32 

S 

24-5 

8-22 

15  9 

8-77 

A 

27-0 

7'!6 

8-55 

It  appears  from  these  results  (1)  that  the  different  whistles  give 
practically  the  same  note  at  the  same  pressure ;  (2)  That  the  note 
sounded  varies  considerably  with  the  pressure,  the  values  at  5  mm. 
differing  by  about  a  "  whole  tone "  for  a  variation  of  pressure 
between  19'3  and  32-8  cm.  of  water ;  (3)  That  the  true  wave-length 
is  greater  than  four  times  the  length  of  the  pipe.  It  is  difficult  to 
suggest  a  general  law  which  will  meet  the  case,  in  consequence  of 
the  variation  of  the  note  with  the  pressure.  The  pressure  of  the 
air  in  actual  practice  with  the  whistle  is  obtained  by  squeezing  the 
little  india-rubber  bladder  attached  to  the  whistle.  The  pressure 
is  variable,  but  the  ear  recognises  only  one  note.  This  may  be 
connected  with  a  fact  that  we  observed  in  connection  with  them, 
namely,  that  the  whistles  required  a  certain  definite  pressure, 
different  for  each,  in  order  to  produce  a  clear  note,  if  the  pressure 
was  not  correct  the  sound  produced  might  be  called  a  hiss,  yet  it 
gave  good  nodes.  It  appears  that,  speaking  very  roughly,  the 
correction  to  be  applied  to  the  observed  length  of  pipe  in  order  to 
obtain  the  the  true  quarter  wave-length  for  the  higher  pressures 
does  not  differ  much  from  1  mm.,  and  is  therefore  nearly  equal  to 
1'5  X  diameter  of  pipe,  the  correction  found  by  Wertheim  to  be 
applicable  in  the  case  of  organ  pipes  of  corresponding  shape. 


NOTE  on  the  DIEYERIE  TRIBE  of  SOUTH  AUSTRALIA. 
By  Mr.  SAMUEL  GASON.     (Communicated  by  J.  G.  FRAZER,  M.A.) 

Mr.  Frazer  writes  as  follows  : — 

I  enclose  a  copy  of  a  letter  received  by  me  from  Mr.  Samuel 
Gason  in  reply  to  some  enquiries  which  I  had  addressed  to  him 
concerning  the  Dieyerie  tribe  of  aborigines,  South  Australia.  Mr. 
Gason,  in  the  course  of  his  duties  as  police  trooper,  has  been  for 
many  years  familiar  with  the  tribe  in  question,  whose  manners  and 


186  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

customs  he  has  described  in  a  very  valuable  little  work,  included  in 
the  volume,  "  Native  Tribes  of  South  Australia."  The  following 
letter  supplements  on  some  important  points  the  information  con- 
tained in  that  work.  In  particular  it  shows  that  the  Dieyerie 
belongs  to  that  rare  class  of  cases,  intermediate  between  mother 
kin  and  father  kin,  where  the  sons  take  their  totem  from  the  father 
and  the  daughters  from  the  mother. 

This  is  not,  as  I  hope  to  point  out  elsewhere,  to  be  confounded 
with  the  sex  totem,  of  which  examples  are  to  be  found  in  Australia, 
but  (so  far  as  I  know)  nowhere  else.  In  view  of  Mr.  Gasoii's  letter 
the  statement  of  Mr.  Howitt  ("Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst.,"  XIII,  p.  457) 
that  descent  in  the  Dieyerie  tribe  is  uterine,  needs  correction. 

The  following  is  Mr.  Gason's  letter,  dated  from  Beltana,  South 
Australia,  March  6th,  1887  :— 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  and  to  send  the 
following  remarks  in  reply  to  your  inquiries,  re  branches  of  the 
aborigine  Dieyerie  tribe  of  South  Australia. 

1st.  As  to  whether  children  of  the  father  inherit  the  father's 
branch  or  class  name,  I  reply  yes,  the  sons  take  the  father's  class, 
the  daughters  the  mother's  class,  e.g.,  if  a  dog  (being  the  man) 
marries  a  rat  (being  the  woman)  the  sons  of  the  issue  would  be 
dogs,  the  daughters  of  the  issue  would  be  rats. 

2ndly.  As  to  whether  the  father  is  the  head  of  the  family,  I  say 
most  certainly. 

3rdly.  As  to  whether  the  father  eats  of  his  children  at  the  burial 
ceremony,  my  reply  is  that  the  father  does  not  eat  of  his  offspring  ; 
the  reason  assigned  is  that,  being  the  head  of  the  family,  he  has 
sufficient  command,  and  being  a  man  (not  weak  like  a  woman)  he 
can  resist  the  deep  grief  occasioned  by  the  loss  of  his  child,  and  not 
be  perpetually  crying,  causing  a  nuisance  to  the  camp  and  tribe ; 
whereas,  a  mother  and  other  female  relatives  are  compelled  to  eat  of 
their  offspring  and  dear  departed  relatives,  for  by  so  doing,  they 
are  supposed  to  have  a  presence  of  their  departed  in  their  liver  (they 
feel  from  their  liver,  not  from  their  heart  as  we  do).  The  man  will 
eat  of  his  brother,  his  uncle,  his  cousin,  or  dear  friend,  but  not  of 
his  father,  nor  his  grandfather,  nor  his  offspring. 

4thly.  The  members  of  each  class-name  do  not  pay  any  par- 
ticular respect  to  their  branch,  further  than  each  class  thinks  that 
they  are  of  the  oldest  families.  They  eat  the  animals  or  plants  of 
which  they  derive  their  class  names. 

Sthly.  On  all  deaths,  either  from  natural  causes  or  otherwise,  an 
inquiry  or  inquest  is  held  immediately  before  burial,  and  in  case  of 
the  departed  being  a  person  of  note  or  influence,  the  result  of  the 
inquiry  is  a  verdict  of  murder  against  some  person  or  persons  of  the 
same  tribe  or  of  the  neighbouring  tribe,  even  if  the  deceased  died 
from  natural  causes,  they  having  a  superstitious  belief  that  any  man 
who  is  a  Koonkie  (doctor)  has  the  power  to  cause  any  person's  death 
by  sickness  at  any  distance  by  the  use  of  a  human  bone,  carried  out 
by  a  superstitious  charm. 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  187 

FOURTH  ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  ETHNOLOGY — 
SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION,  WASHINGTON,  1886. 

THE  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology  is  not 
quite  as  large  as  its  predecessors,  neither  is  it,  perhaps,  quite  as 
full  of  interest,  although  the  papers  are  of  high  scientific  value, 
from  the  systematic  manner  in  which  the  work  of  exploration  has 
been  carried  out,  and  the  large  amount  of  material  collected  and 
classified. 

The  recorded  field-work  consists  of  explorations  among  the 
mounds  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  in  the  course  of  which  four 
thousand  one  hundred  specimens  were  added  to  the  National 
Museum,  including  a  large  collection  of  pottery,  skulls,  stone, 
copper,  and  shell  implements  and  ornaments,  also  some  articles 
shewing  contact  with  Europeans,  such  as  hammered  iron,  bracelets, 
brooches,  and  crosses  of  silver,  and  a  hog's  tooth.  The  full  report 
of  these  explorations  will  be  of  great  utility  to  future  workers  in 
this  extensive  field ;  but  the  explorations  carried  on  by  Mr.  James 
Stevenson,  among  the  cliff  dwellings  in  the  canons  of  North 
Mexico,  are  of  still  greater  interest,  for  these  cliff  dwellings  are  an 
extraordinary  development  of  the  primitive  cave  dwellings  of 
early  man,  consisting  of  huge  chambers  tunnelled  into  the  solid 
rock,  in  some  cases  300  feet  above  the  bed  of  the  canon.  Some  of 
these  village  chambers  are  of  enormous  dimensions,  one  being 
described  as  1,500  feet  from  side  to  side,  and  about  half  that  space 
from  the  back  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff ;  calculated  to  have  been  the 
home  of  between  a  thousand  and  fifteen  hundred  persons.  The 
floor  of  this  cave,  probably  a  natural  cavity  enlarged,  was  studded 
with  dwellings  built  of  square  stones  laid  in  mortar,  and  houses 
three  stories  high  are  found,  filling  up  spaces  between  rocky  pro- 
jections, whilst  frequently  houses  have  been  built  jutting  out 
from  the  cliff,  reminding  one  of  swallows'  nests  on  a  large  scale. 

The  most  singular  part  of  these  extraordinary  dwellings  is,  that 
they  appear  to  have  been  constructed  entirely  by  users  of  stone 
implements ;  but  who,  judging  from  their  works,  must  have 
attained  to  a  civilisation  superior  to  that  of  the  neolithic  peoples 
of  Europe,  for  they  had  much  artistic  skill,  the  dwellings  being 
painted  in  various  colours,  generally  in  bands,  but  also  in  a  pattern 
resembling  the  Greek  fret,  and  with  many  curious  designs  of  un- 
known meaning  introduced.  They  seem,  also,  to  have  cultivated 
Indian  corn,  and  to  have  made  garments  and  matting  from  the 
fibre  of  the  Yucca ;  they  also  wore  finely  woven  sandals  of  peculiar 
pattern,  and  skeletons  have  been  found,  buried  in  a  sitting  posture, 
with  the  flesh  and  skin  dried  to  the  hardness  of  stone. 

Mr.  Frank  Gushing  continues  his  interesting  researches  among 
the  Zunis,  and  Mr.  Victor  Mindeleff  is  prosecuting  the  same  work 
among  the  Moki,  and  we  may  hope  soon  to  see  the  result  of  their 
investigations. 

Good  work  has  also  been  done  in  classifying  the  languages  of 


188  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

many  of  the  Indian  tribes,  by  the  Rev.  Owen  Dorsey,  Mrs. 
Erminie  Smith,  and  others,  and  it  is  probable  that  through  the 
names  of  animals,  trees,  &c.,  we  may,  in  time,  obtain  a  knowledge 
of  the  migrations  and  affinities  of  the  various  tribes. 

The  most  important  paper  in  the  present  volume  is  that  by 
Colonel  Garrick  Mallery,  U.S.A.,  on  the  Pictographs  of  the  North 
American  Indians,  which  is  very  profusely  illustrated,  and  includes 
rock  sculptures  as  well  as  paintings.  It  is  of  especial  interest  to 
find  that  a  certain  geographical  area  can  be  assigned  to  each  form 
of  descriptive  writing,  or  hieroglyphs,  as  they  may  be  called. 
Colonel  Mallery  supposes  that  American  pictographs  are  :  "  1st. 
Mnemonic,  embracing  order  of  songs,  traditions,  treaties,  war,  and 
time.  2nd.  Notifications,  comprising  notice  of  departure  and 
direction,  of  condition,  warning  and  guidance,  geographic  features, 
claim  or  demand,  messages  and  communications,  and  record  of 
expeditions.  3rd.  Totemic  :  this  embraces  tribal,  gentile,  clan,  and 
personal  designations,  insignia  and  tokens  of  authority,  personal 
names,  property  marks,  status  of  individuals,  and  signs  of  par- 
ticular achievements.  4th.  Religious,  comprising  mythic  per- 
sonages, shamanism,  dances  and  ceremonies,  mortuary  practices, 
grave  posts,  charms  and  fetiches.  5th.  Customs  and  habits.  6th. 
Tribal  history.  7th.  Biographic,  in  which  are  examples  giving 
continuous  record  of  events  in  a  life,  and  other  cases  of  particular 
exploits  and  occurrences."  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
pictographs  of  a  tribe  are,  in  fact,  the  history  of  that  tribe,  or 
rather  of  particular  events  relating  to  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe, 
although  in  some  cases  they  have  a  symbolic,  or  religious  meaning. 

The  next  paper  is  on  the  "  Pottery  of  the  Ancient  Pueblos,"  by 
William  H.  Holmes,  followed  by  another  on  the  "  Origin  and 
Development  of  Form  and  Ornament  in  Ceramic  Art,"  by  the 
same  author.  In  these  we  are  introduced  to  many  quaint  and 
curious  forms  in  pottery,  and  to  some  very  beautiful  ornamental 
designs,  showing  that  the  ancient  Americans  had  attained  to  greater 
perfection  in  this  art  than  even  the  early  Greeks  and  Etruscans, 
although  the  designs  are  chiefly  geometrical. 

The  concluding  paper  in  this  volume  is  one  by  Mr.  Frank  Gushing 
on  "  A  Study  of  Pueblo  Pottery,  as  illustrative  of  Zuni  Culture 
Growth,"  which  treats  of  the  evolution  of  form  both  in  architecture 
and  pottery,  through  necessity  or  convenience.  With  regard  to 
architecture,  Mr.  Gushing  supposes  the  rectangular  form  to  have 
been  developed  from  the  circular,  which  was  the  older,  originating 
from  the  tent ;  whilst  he  believes  pottery  to  have  been  anticipated 
by  basketry. 

These  papers  should  be  studied  carefully  by  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  ancient  pottery  of  Europe,  for  they  would  find  in 
them  many  suggestions  for  future  investigations. 

A.   W.    BUCKLAND. 


THE    LOWER  CONGO 

To  illustrate  MT  R.C.Phillips's  paper 
EngishMiles 


THE    JOUENAL 


OF  THE 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL    INSTITUTE 


OF 


GEEAT   BEITAIN  AND   IEELAND. 


JUNE  28iH,  1887. 
FRANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 

The  election  of  WILLIAM  GOWLAND,  Esq.,  F.C.S.,  A.E.S.M., 
of  the  Imperial  Mint,  Osaka,  Japan,  was  announced. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors  : — 

FOR   THE   LIBRARY. 

From  the  SECRETARY-GENERAL  OP  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OP 
ANTHROPOLOGY  AND  PRE-HISTORIC  ARCHEOLOGY. — Compte-rendu 
de  la  huitieme  Session,  Budapest,  1876.  Second  Volume, 
Parts  1,  2. 

From  the  INSTITUTION. — Journal  of  the  Royal  United  Service  Insti- 
tution. No.  139. 

From  the  SOCIETY. — Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.  Nos.  1804, 
1805. 

Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society.     No.  255. 

The    Scientific    Proceedings   of    the    Royal   Dublin   Society. 

Vol.  v  (N.S.),  Parts  3-6. 

The    Scientific   Transactions    of  the   Royal    Dublin  Society. 

Parts  xi-xiii. 

VOL.  XVII.  0 


190      LiEUT.-GEN.  PiTT-EiVERS. — On  an  Ancient  British 

From  the  SOCIETY. — Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Imperiale  des  Natura- 
listes  de  Moscou.     1886.     No.  3. 

Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Borda,  Dax.     1887.     Part  3. 

From  the  EDITOR. — Nature.     Nos.  920,  921. 

• Science.     No.  227. 

The  Photographic  Times.     Nos.  299,  300. 

Revue  d'Ethnographie.     1887.     No.  1. 


LiEUT.-GENERAL  PiTT-RiVERS  exhibited  a  series  of  very  fine 
models  illustrating  his  recent  excavations  in  Cranborne  Chase  ; 
and  read  the  following  paper : — 

On  an  ANCIENT  BRITISH  SETTLEMENT  EXCAVATED  NEAR 
KUSHMORE,  SALISBURY. 

By  Lieut-General  PITT-EIVERS,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  F.G.3., 

Vice-President  Anthrop.  lust. 

IN  my  privately-printed  4to  volume  of  "  Excavations  in  Cran- 
borne Chase,"  vol.  I,  relating  to  the  excavations  in  the  village 
on  "Woodcuts  Common,1  I  have  described  everything  found 
there  with  the  utmost  detail,  avoiding  theory  as  much  as 
possible,  and  desiring  to  make  it  a  work  of  reference  that  could 
be  relied  upon  for  the  forms  of  art  of  that  period  found  in 
this  neighbourhood.  In  collecting  evidence  from  archseological 
works  professing  to  be  descriptive,  I  have  often  experienced  the 
inconvenience  of  having  to  wade  through  a  mass  of  speculative 
matter  in  order  to  pick  out  the  facts,  and  I  have  endeavoured 
to  avoid  this  error  by  tabulating  the  materials,  and  placing  the 
illustrations  of  the  objects  in  juxtaposition  with  the  descriptions 
of  them.  This  course,  no  doubt,  detracts  from  the  interest  of 
the  volume  to  the  general  public,  but  adds  to  its  value  to 
the  working  anthropologist  and  archaeologist.  But,  in  my 
Presidential  Address  to  the  meeting  of  the  Archseological 
Institute  at  Salisbury,  in  1887,  I  have  enlarged  a  little,  and 
shown  the  bearing  of  this  discovery  upon  general  questions. 

The  Romanised  Britons  have  not,  I  think,  been  studied  by 
anthropologists  so  much  as  they  deserve.  Whilst  the  stone  and 
bronze  age  people  have  engrossed  our  attention,  and  we  have 
little  difficulty  in  speaking  of  their  physical  peculiarities  or 
their  arts,  the  Britons,  as  they  were  left  after  the  withdrawal  of 

1  "  Excavations  in  Cranborne  Chase,  near  Rushmore,  on  the  borders  of 
Dorset  and  Wilts."  By  Lieutenant-General  Pitt-Rivers,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  Vol. 
I.  Printed  privately,  Ifc87.  A  copy  of  this  work  has  been  presented  by  the 
author  to  the  Library  of  the  Institute. 


Settlement  Excavated  near  Rushmore,  Salisbury.          191 

the  Roman  Legions,  remain  a  mystery  to  us,  and  afford  scope 
for  the  widest  divergence  of  opinion.  Yet  their  influence  upon 
the  existing  population  of  the  country  must  have  been  far 
greater  than  that  of  the  generations  which  preceded  them. 
Although  the  late  Celtic  art  and  ornamentation,  found  sporadi- 
cally  in  this  country  before  the  Roman  Conquest,  shows 
evidence  of  much  taste  and  refinement,  yet  the  three  centuries 
of  Roman  occupation  must  be  considered  virtually  to  mark  the 
first  stages  of  civilisation  in  England,  and  the  Briton  before  and 
after  that  period  must  have  been,  in  many  respects,  a  very 
different  being.  Whilst  some  have  represented  him  as  utterly 
degenerate  after  the  Romans  left,  and  to  have  been  almost 
exterminated  by  the  Saxons  in  the  central  and  eastern  part  of 
the  country,  recent  investigation  has  tended  to  modify  this 
opinion  considerably.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  we  had  a 
great  and  noble  inheritance  from  Rome,  and  that  much  of  it 
must  have  been  passed  on  to  us  by  the  Britons  who  succeeded 
in  inoculating  their  rude  Saxon  conquerors  with  what  they  had 
learnt  from  their  old  masters.  It  is  even  now  believed  by 
some  that  the  language  of  the  Romanised  Britons  was  entirely 
Latin,  and  that  the  Celtic  speech  had  to  be  reintroduced  into 
Wales  by  tribes  that  had  lived  beyond  the  area  of  Roman 
influence  in  the  north. 

Much  of  this  ignorance  of  the  condition  of  the  Britons  at  this 
time,  arises,  no  doubt,  from  the  difficulty  of  identifying  their 
graves.  A  stone  or  a  bronze  age  grave  can  be  easily  deter- 
mined by  the  associated  relics,  but  the  Romans  introduced 
so  many  auxiliaries  and  colonists '  from  different  parts  of  the 
world,  that  a  skeleton  found  in  association  with  Roman  relics 
may  be  that  of  a  native  of  any  part  of  that  wide  region  over 
which  the  Roman  dominion  extended.  This  gives  additional 
interest  to  the  study  of  the  remains  of  people  who  inhabited  the 
Wiltshire  Downs  in  the  western  part  of  the  country,  in  places 
that  are  remote  from  the  Roman  centres,  in  high  and  com- 
paratively barren  spots  to  which  the  aborigines  are  likely  to 
have  been  driven  by  their  conquerors,  where  the  probability  of 
finding  the  remains  of  the  genuine  Briton  is  much  greater ;  and 
when  we  find  in  these  places  skeletons  buried  in  pits  in  the 
villages  which  they  inhabited,  surrounded  by  the  relics  that 
they  used  in  life,  and  the  remains  of  their  habitations,  this 
serves  still  more  surely  to  identify  them  as  Britons;  for  it  is 
unlikely  that  the  Romans  themselves,  or  their  allies,  should 
have  paid  so  little  attention  to  the  remains  of  their  dead  as 
to  throw  them  into  pits  with  refuse,  without  any  of  the  signs  of 
decent  burial. 

Moreover,  we  find  that  those  who  were  buried  with  any 

0  2 


192       LIEUT.-GEN.  PITT-EIVEKS. — On  an  Ancient  British 

signs  of  care  were  crouched  up  after  the  ancient  manner  of 
the  Britons,  but  few  having  been  found  extended,  and  of  these 
some  of  them  buried  beneath  the  little  ramparts  of  the  villages 
in  such  a  way  as  to  show  that  the  latter  had  been  thrown  over 
them,  and  that  the  direction  of  the  bodies  was  given  to  them  by 
the  lines  of  the  ramparts,  and  the  drains  in  which  they  were  also 
found  interred.  All  this  proves  them  to  be  the  remains  of  a 
subject  rather  than  a  dominant  people,  and  the  associated  relics 
serve  also  to  fix  their  age  without  difficulty.  The  pottery, 
of  which  immense  quantities  were  found  in  fragments  both 
in  the  pits  and  beneath  the  surface,  some  of  it  in  a  condition  to 
be  restored,  was  mostly  British,  and  the  pots  resembled  those 
found  in  settlements  of  the  Eoman  age  found  elsewhere, 
especially  in  Dorsetshire.  But  with  it  were  fragments  of 
Samian  of  Eomau  manufacture,  and  the  position  of  these 
undoubtedly  Eoman  fragments  showed  that  it  was  in  use 
during  the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  the  time  of  the 
occupation  of  the  village.  The  Eoman  coins  speak  to  the  same 
effect,  being  of  all  dates  from  Caligula,  A.D.  37,  to  Magnentius, 
A.D.  353,  and  they  were  continuous  during  the  whole  period 
with  one  considerable  gap  of  fifty  years  extending  from  Clodius 
Albinus,  A.D.  193,  to  Trebonianus  Gallus,  A.D.  253.  No  doubt 
many  of  the  earlier  coins  were  used  up  to  a  late  date,  and, 
therefore,  afford  no  actual  evidence  of  the  duration  of  the  period 
of  occupation ;  but  one  special  find,  consisting  of  the  remains  of 
a  box,  the  wood  of  which  was  found  adhering  to  bronze 
ornaments  and  dolphin-shaped  handles,  appeared  to  have  con- 
tained coins  dating  from  Claudius,  A.D.  41,  to  Claudius  Gothicus, 
A.D.  270,  all  of  which,  if  forming  the  contents  of  the  box,  must 
have  been  in  use  at  the  same  time.  The  village  also  pro- 
duced four  British  silver  uninscribed  coins  of  the  type  which 
appears,  by  Mr.  Evans'  work,  to  have  been  prevalent  in  this 
neighbourhood.  These  British  coins  may,  probably,  have  been 
in  use  for  some  time  after  Eoman  occupation,  but  it  is  hardly 
likely  they  should  have  been  employed  up  to  the  latest  period, 
so  that  it  seems  probable  the  village  must  have  been  occupied 
early,  as  well  as  late,  during  the  Eoman  era.  Other  circum- 
stances point  to  the  same  conclusion.  The  little  banks  sur- 
rounding the  village  and  its  outworks,  showed  evidence  of 
having  been  altered,  and  the  excavations  proved  that,  in  some 
places,  banks  had  been  raised  over  spots  where  ditches  pre- 
viously existed.  Such  changes  need  not  have  taken  centuries  to 
develop  themselves,  but  they  prove  continuity  of  occupation.  The 
pits,  of  which  ninety-five  were  found,  were  of  slightly  different 
shapes,  some,  about  11  feet  deep,  were  in  the  form  of  a  truncated 
cone,  slightly  larger  at  bottom  than  top,  with  the  sides  smoothly 


Settlement  Excavated  near  Rushmore,  Salisbury.          193 

cut  in  the  chalk,  but  in  no  case  revetted.  Others  were  quite  cylin- 
drical, and  not  more  than  4  feet  deep.  Others  had  a  plan  in  the 
form  of  two  or  three  circles  cutting  into  each  other,  suggesting 
side  chambers  or  cupboards,  yet  suggesting  also  the  possibility  of 
one  pit  having  been  cut  and  tilled  up  again  before  the  others  were 
made ;  for  it  is  not  evident  why  the  circular  form  should  have 
been  so  strictly  adhered  to  in  the  case  of  side  chambers  or  cup- 
boards. The  depths  also  of  these  united  pits  did  not  in  many 
cases  coincide.  They  were  all  filled  to  the  top  with  earth  and 
refuse,  including  fragments  of  pottery  and  the  remains  of 
domesticated  animals.  In  some  places  these  collections  of 
refuse  looked  as  if  it  had  been  thrown  in  in  a  heap,  but  in  other 
parts  it  was  interspersed  here  and  there  as  if  it  had  been  intro- 
duced in  the  earth  with  which  the  pits  were  filled  up  to  the  top 
so  completely  as  to  show  no  trace  upon  the  surface  before  the 
excavations  commenced.  With  the  bones  a  few  fragments  of 
human  skeletons  were  found  occasionally,  besides  the  entire 
skeletons  of  human  beings  which  were  thrown  into  some  of  the 
pits.  Only  one  Roman  coin  was  found  in  a  pit,  all  the  rest 
having  been  found  whilst  trenching  the  surface,  which  suggests 
the  possibility  of  most  of  the  pits  having  been  fillad  up  before 
coins  came  into  general  use  in  the  village.  One  quarter  of  the 
village  contained  relics  of  superior  quality  to  the  other  quarters. 
Here  flat  pieces  of  painted  plaster  showed  that  they  occupied 
square  shaped  rooms  ornamented  in  the  interior,  whilst  in 
other  parts  of  the  village  the  fragments  of  clay  found  with  the 
impression  of  interlaced  sticks  upon  them,  showed  that  they 
lived  in  houses  made  of  dab  and  wattle  similar  to  those  which  I 
have  elsewhere  described  as  having  been  found  at  Mount  Caburn, 
near  Lewes,  and  which  were  shown  to  be  of  the  late  Celtic 
period.  In  the  rich  quarter  also  were  quantities  of  iron  nails, 
which  denoted  that  cut  timber  work  was  used  in  the  houses,  and 
these  nails  were  deficient  in  the  pits  generally.  Tiles  of  Purbeck 
shale,  with  nail  holes  to  fasten  them  by,  were  also  found  more 
frequently  in  the  rich  quarter  than  elsewhere,  and  terra  cotta 
"  tegulae"  were  also  found  there,  but  only  in  fragments  and  used 
as  pavements,  for  which  purpose  these  tiles  were  frequently 
employed  elsewhere.  The  absence  of  "  imbrices  "  which  are  a 
necessary  adjunct  in  the  formation  of  a  Eoraan  tiled  roof 
confirms  the  opinion  that  the  roofs  in  the  Romano-British 
village  were  not  tiled  in  this  way ;  although  the  fragments  of  the 
tiles  showed  that  they  had  certainly  been  originally  constructed 
for  roofing ;  their  use  for  a  secondhand  purpose  conveys  the 
impression  of  poverty,  although  too  much  stress  must  not  be 
laid  upon  the  circumstance.  In  forming  a  comparison  between 
the  relics  found  in  the  pits  and  those  found  just  beneath  the  sur- 


194      LIEUT.-GEN.  PITT-EIVEKS. — On  an  Ancient  British 

face  in  places  where  there  were  no  pits,  and  on  the  surface  over 
the  pits,  what  Mr.  Pengelly  has  observed  is  perfectly  true,  that 
the  surface  must  have  been  occupied  at  the  same  time  as  the 
the  earliest  pits,  and  must,  therefore,  contain  some  of  the  relics 
earliest  dropped  about  in  the  village.  But  if  we  are  to  believe 
that  the  pits  were  tilled  up  successively  as  they  were 
abandoned  and  others  dug  to  replace  them,  it  is  evident  that 
those  early  filled  up  would  no  longer  continue  to  be  the 
receptacles  for  objects  in  use  during  the  later  period  of 
occupation,  but  would  contain  only  the  earliest  things,  whilst 
the  surface  would  contain  the  things  of  all  the  periods.  There 
is  an  object,  therefore,  in  comparing  the  relative  numbers  of  the 
better  class  of  things  found  in  the  pits  and  on  the  surface.  This 
has  been  done  with  great  care,  with  the  result  that  a  much 
larger  quantity  of  good  things,  and  things  of  decidedly  Eoman 
construction,  have  been  found  on  the  surface  than  in  the  pits, 
although  there  is  no  certain  evidence  derivable  from  this  source 
that  the  village  was  ever  occupied  before  Eoman  times.  On  the 
other  hand  things  of  commoner  use  were  more  abundant  in  the 
pits.  This  may  be  accounted  for  partly  by  supposing  that 
the  village  grew  in  wealth  as  it  went  on,  and  partly  by  supposing 
that  the  better  things  were  more  generally  used  in  the  rich 
quarter  where  timber  built  houses  existed,  and  where  the  pits 
were  scarcer,  than  in  the  poorer  quarter  where  pits  were  more 
abundant.  The  value  of  the  evidence  bearing  upon  these  points 
can  only  be  understood  by  carefully  studying  the  relic  tables 
given  in  my  volume  and  the  deductions  that  are  there  made 
from  them.  It  is  always  a  mistake  to  expect  positive  and 
conclusive  evidence  from  excavations  of  this  nature ;  at  the 
best,  results  can  only  be  arrived  at  by  a  balance  of  probabilities 
and  by  recording  all  the  finds  with  the  utmost  caie. 

The  use  of  the  pits  cannot  be  determined  with  certainty,  but 
there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  the  majority  of  them  were  made 
to  contain  refuse,  and  that  the  habitations  were  on  the  surface 
near  them.  They  resemble  the  pits  found  in  British  settlements 
of  the  late  Celtic  period  such  as  Mount  Caburn ;  so  that  the 
interior  economy  of  the  British  villages  must  have  remained 
unchanged  in  Eoman  times. 

By  careful  measurement  of  all  the  animal  bones  and  comparison 
with  test  animals,  the  height  and  length  of  which  were  measured 
before  being  killed,  it  appears  that  all  the  domesticated  animals 
were  small,  except  the  pig,  which  was  of  nearly  the  same  size  as 
our  own.  The  horse  did  not  exceed  11  to  12  hands,  and  re- 
sembled the  Exrnoor  pony  in  form.  The  short-horned  ox,  Bos 
longifrons,  was  about  the  size  of  an  Alderney  cow ;  the  sheep 
was  small  and^long-legged,  resembling  those  now  found  only  oil 


Settlement  Excavated  near  Rmhmore,  Salisbury.          195 

the  Island  of  St.  Kilda.  The  dog  was  of  all  sizes,  from  that  of  a 
large  mastiff  or  retriever  to  a  small  terrier,  and  one  bone  of  a 
Dachshound  was  also  found.  Tables  of  measurement  and  com- 
parison with  the  test  animals  will,  I  hope,  be  given  in  my  next 
volume,  on  the  Excavations  in  the  village  of  Rotherley,  now  in 
course  of  preparation.  Professor  Rolleston  was  paying  attention 
to  the  subject  of  ancient  domesticated  breeds  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  and  I  hope  to  be  able  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  careful 
study  of  the  subject  in  my  next  volume.  The  horse,  as  well  as 
the  ox  and  sheep,  was  used  for  food.  It  is  not  certain  that  the 
dog  was  so  used,  though  the  number  of  detached  bones  of  that 
animal  found  with  the  others  rather  implies  that  such  was  the  case. 
On  the  other  hand,  one  entire  skeleton  of  a  dog  was  found  buried 
with  a  human  skeleton  in  a  grave.  Roe  deer  was  used  for  food 
in  small  quantities  but  not  the  red  deer,  although  its  horns  were 
used  for  the  handles  of  implements.  No  horns  of  fallow  deer 
were  found.  Oysters  were  found  in  large  numbers,  as  is  usually 
the  case  in  all  villages  of  the  Roman  age.  Three  thousand  and 
twenty-five  of  these  shells  were  found  in  the  village,  but  I 
omitted  to  count  the  number  of  upper  and  lower  valves,  until  a 
large  number  had  been  destroyed.  Of  the  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-three  that  then  remained  I  found  that 
nine  hundred  and  sixteen  were  tops  and  nine  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  bottoms,  from  which  it  is  evident  that  they  had  been  im- 
ported entire ;  the  upper  valves  are  more  liable  to  destruction 
than  the  lower  ones.  No  other  mollusks  were  found,  nor  were 
land  shells  found  in  sufficient  number  to  allow  it  to  be  supposed 
that  snails  were  eaten.  No  specimen  of  Helix  pomatia  was 
discovered.  Although  it  was  evidently  an  outlying  agricultural 
village,  the  people  were  not  without  refinement  as  attested  by  a 
number  of  bronze  finger  rings  of  Roman  manufacture,  set  with 
glass  and  adapted  to  fingers  of  small  size.  The  numerous  bronze 
fibulae  found  were  all  of  Roman  type,  and  two  mosaic  brooches  of 
blue,  red,  and  white  pattern,  were  of  the  finest  workmanship. 
As  a  rule,  the  pottery  was  of  rude  manufacture,  but  with  flat 
bottoms  adapted  to  stand  on  tables.  Some  of  the  vessels  had 
handles,  but  many  of  them  were  provided  with  loops  for  sus- 
pension, somewhat  similar  to  those  still  used  by  Dorsetshire 
labourers  in  the  fields,  a  form  that  is  not  uncommon  amongst 
Roman  remains  in  this  neighbourhood.  It  appeared  to  be  wheel- 
turned,  but  subsequently  smoothed  over  with  striae  running  in 
different  directions  so  as  to  obliterate  the  marks  of  the  wheel. 
One  perfect  Samian  bowl  with  figures  in  relief  was  found  in 
fragments  and  restored.  Scarcely  any  fragments  of  the  coarse 
British  pottery,  having  large  grains  of  quartz  or  shell  in  its  com- 
position, were  found  during  the  excavations. 


196       LIEUT.-GEN.  PITT-RIVERS. — On  an  Ancient  British 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  characteristics  of  the  village  was 
the  extensive  arrangements  that  had  been  made  for  drainage. 
Ditches  3  to  4  feet  deep  surrounded  the  village,  and  from  these 
other  deep  drains  led  down  hill  and  along  the  sides  of  the  roads, 
leading  to  and  from  the  village,  implying  probably  a  much 
greater  rainfall  than  is  experienced  at  the  present  time.  The 
drains  consisted  of  open  ditches,  no  trace  of  conduits  or  faggots 
having  been  found  in  them. 

The  same  conclusion  as  to  the  rainfall  is  borne  out  by  the 
depth  of  the  wells,  two  of  which  were  found  in  the  village,  one 
136  and  the  other  188  feet  deep.  At  the  bottom  of  the  deeper 
one,  the  iron  bands  and  handle  of  the  Roman  bucket  were  found, 
shewing  that  it  had  been  used  to  obtain  water,  although  it  is  now 
quite  dry,  and  a  diagram  given  in  my  volume  showing  the 
depths  of  the  existing  wells  on  the  hill  in  comparison  with  the 
Roman  ones,  brings  to  light  the  fact  that  water  was  obtained  in 
Roman  times  at  a  higher  level  than  is  the  case  at  present.  No 
doubt  the  destruction  of  the  ancient  forests  and  the  drainage  of 
the  land  has  brought  about  this  change,  and  the  description  of 
Britain  by  Pytheas  as  -a  "  land  of  clouds  and  rain,"  must  have 
well  applied  to  the  condition  of  the  country  at  the  time  we  are 
speaking  of.  Associated  with  the  climate  also  must  be  con- 
sidered several  hypocausts  found  in  the  village.  The  use  of 
some  of  them  is  doubtful,  but  one  appears  clearly  to  resemble  a 
British  copy  of  a  Roman  flue  used  for  warming  a  room,  made 
with  flags  of  Purbeck  shale  instead  of  tiles,  and  shewing  that 
the  owner  of  the  house  must  have  become  thoroughly  imbued 
with  Roman  ideas  of  comfort.  In  one  of  these  hypocausts  a 
skeleton  was  found,  which  had  been  interred  at  the  time  it  was 
filled  up  with  earth.  In  one  of  the  pits,  the  skeleton  of  a  child 
about  12  years  of  age  was  found  to  have  been  killed  by  a  sword 
cut  on  the  back  of  the  head,  and  it  was  thrown  into  the  pit  with 
two  adults.  Twenty-two  skeletons  of  infants  were  also  dis- 
covered in  various  parts  of  the  excavations,  the  majority  of 
which  were  new-born,  reminding  us  of  the  Roman  custom  of 
burying  young  children  under  the  eaves  of  the  houses.  By 
measuring  several  samples  of  ancient  wheat  found  in  the  pits,  it 
was  found  that  the  number  of  grains  to  the  cubic  inch,  was  the 
same  as  in  wheat  now  grown  at  the  same  level.  This  differs, 
from  British  and  pre-Roman  grain,  which  I  found  higher  up 
on  the  hill,  which  shewed  nearly  twice  as  many  grains  to 
the  cubic  inch  as  wheat  now  grown  near  the  same  spot,  from 
which  it  appears  that  the  influence  of  Roman  methods  of 
husbandry  had  told  upon  the  quality  of  the  grain  produced  at 
the  time  of  the  occupation  of  this  village. 

On  the  feet  of  two  of  the  skeletons   iron  hobnails,  Roman 


Settlement  Excavated  near  Rushmore,  Salisbury.          197 

fashion,  were  found,  and  on  a  third  a  quantity  of  similar  nails 
covered  the  shin  bones,  some  of  which  were  corroded  together  at 
the  heads,  showing  that  probably  they  had  served  to  arm  leather 
greaves,  with  which  the  lower  part  of  the  legs  had  been  covered. 
This  being  the  condition  of  the  remains,  and  the  probability 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  being  Britons  of  the  Eoman 
era  being  well  attested,  it  is  interesting  to  consider  the  physical 
peculiarities  of  the  skeletons  found  thrown  into  the  pits  or 
otherwise  buried  within  the  village.  All  the  skulls  that  could 
be  restored  have  been  carefully  drawn  in  my  volume,  and  the 
measurements  of  the  skulls  and  of  the  bones  of  the  skeletons  are 
attached  to  the  plates.  The  first  thing  that  strikes  one  is  their 
exceedingly  small  stature,  3^  inches  lower  than  the  estimated 
stature  of  small  long-barrow  people  of  this  district,  and  this  is 
the  more  remarkable  because  the  only  two  bronze  age  skeletons 
that  I  have  found  in  this  neighbourhood  are  of  the  usual  large 
stature  of  the  bronze  age  folk.  And  the  Saxons  also  which  I 
found  in  the  neighbouring  cemetery  at  Winkelbury  were  of  the 
usual  comparatively  large  size  of  that  people.  Of  fifteen 
skeletons  found  in  the  village  of  Woodcuts,  the  stature  of 
thirteen  could  be  estimated  by  the  long  bones,  viz.,  seven  males, 
average  stature  5  feet  4'0  inches,  and  six  females  average  stature, 

4  feet  11 '8  inches.     The  average  stature  of  the  males  is   in- 
creased by  one  .skeleton,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  both   Dr. 
Beddoe  and  Dr.  Garson,  who  have  examined  them,  has  marked 
characteristics  of  Eoman  origin,  and  which  is  3  inches  taller 
than  the  tallest  of  the  rest.     He  was  also  found  in  an  extended 
position,  and  had  a  remarkably  brachy cephalic  skull,  the  only 
one  found  in  this  village.     If  this  skeleton  were  omitted   it 
would  reduce  the  average  stature  of  the  males  by  0'7  inches, 
making  it  5  feet  3'3  inches  instead  of  5  feet  4'0  inches,  and  the 
height  of  the  tallest  man  5  feet  4'8  inches  instead  of  5  feet  7'8 
inches.     It  is  all  the  more  probable  that  this  skeleton  was  ex- 
ceptional  in   height   from   the   fact  that  in  the  neighbouring 
Eomano-British  village  of  Eotherley,  the  description  of  which  is 
now  iu  course  of  preparation  in  a  second  4to  volume,  the  average 
height  of  eleven  males  has  been  found  to  be  only  5  feet  1'3  inch 
and  that  of  three  females  4  feet  lO'O  inches,  proving  the  exist- 
ence of  a  very  short  race  inhabiting  these  villages  at  that  time. 

Including  together  the  skeletons  in  the  Woodcuts  and 
Eotherley  villages  with  the  skeleton  above  mentioned,  supposed 
to  have  Eornan  characteristics,  and  adding  one  other  skeleton  of 
the  Eoman-British  period  found  in  a  pit  in  the  neighbourhood, 
all  being  assumed  on  sufficient  evidence  to  be  Eomano-Britons, 
the  following  is  the  result: — Males,  eighteen,  average  stature, 

5  feet  2'6  inches ;  females,  ten,  average  stature,  4  feet  10'9  inches. 


198      LiEUT.-GEN.  PiTT-EiVERS. — On  an  Ancient  British 

To  what  cause  is  this  small  stature  to  be  attributed  ?  To 
inheritance  of  the  peculiarities  of  their  long-barrow  ancestors  ? 
If  so,  why  should  their  stature  have  been  still  further  reduced 
below  the  average  of  that  people  ?  To  the  drafting  of  the  stronger 
portion  of  the  males  into  the  Eoman  legions  abroad  ?  Perhaps 
the  comparatively  large  size  of  the  females  to  which  Mr.  Galton 
has  alluded  may  be  taken  to  favour  that  view,  or  to  the  results 
of  bad  living  and  exposure,  and  to  evils  attendant  upon  slavery  ? 
Possibly  the  small  size  of  all  the  other  animals  may  be  thought 
to  have  some  bearing  on  the  general  effects  of  poverty ;  whilst 
on  the  other  hand  the  large  size  of  the  grains  of  wheat,  to  which 
I  have  referred,  above  what  was  found  to  prevail  in  pre-Eoman 
times,  may  be  taken  as  evidence  of  the  existence  of  an  advanced 
state  of  agriculture  in  the  small  square  fields  which  are  to  be 
traced  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  villages. 

In  estimating  the  stature  from  all  the  long  bones,  Dr. 
Topinard's  method,  as  given  in  his  "  Anthropologie  Gene'rale,"  has 
been  strictly  adhered  to.  I  found  that  the  difference  of  stature 
caused  by  the  different  methods  of  estimating  the  same  skeleton 
by  English  physical  anthropologists  including  Beddoe,  Flower, 
Humphry,  and  Rollestou  amounted  to  no  less  than  4  inches, 
a  difference  exceeding  the  average  difference  of  stature  of  many 
European  races,  and  therefore  sufficient  to  invalidate  any  com- 
parison that  might  be  made  from  them.1  Without  prejudice 
therefore  to  any  of  the  systems  advocated  by  those  gentlemen, 
I  have  conformed  to  Dr.  Topinard's  rules  for  the  sake  of  uni- 
formity, and  in  this  I  am  supported  by  Dr.  Garson.  But  I 
would  draw  the  attention  of  anthropologists  to  this  important 
point.  Questions  of  stature  enter  so  largely  into  all  racial  specu- 
lations that  a  uniform  system  of  estimating  stature  from  the 
long  bones  is  a  matter  of  the  most  urgent  necessity.  The  uni- 
formity obtained  by  estimating  from  the  different  bones  of  the 
same  skeleton  appears  to  me  to  afford  evidence,  that  the  calcu- 
lation is  a  reliable  one  if  only  the  proper  formula  is  used,  and 
Dr.  Topinard's  method,  even  if  it  should  not  turn  out  to  be 
quite  the  best,  appears  to  me  sufficiently  reliable  to  serve  as  a 
generally  accepted  standard. 

In  estimating  the  cephalic  index  I  have  also  used  Dr.  Topi- 
nard's rules.  The  glabello-occipital  length  has  been  made  the 
chief  basis  of  calculation,  although  the  ophryo-occipital  length 
has  in  all  cases  been  given  as  well.  The  result  for  the  Wood- 
cuts skulls  shows :  one  brachycephalic  skull,  that  of  the  possible 
Eoman  above  referred  to,  whose  index  is  822 ;  seven  mesati- 
cephalic,  ranging  from  750  to  799,  and  five  dolichocephalic,  rang- 

1  Prof.  Flower's  method  accords  very  closely  with  Dr.  Topinard's. 


Settlement  Excavated  near  Ruslnnore,  Salisbury.          199 

ing  from  714  to  746.  The  prevalence  of  long  skulls  in  the 
village  is  therefore  very  apparent,  and  this  tallies  with  the  sub- 
sequent excavations  in  Kotherley  village,  where,  out  of  thirteen 
skulls  measured,  one  only  was  brachycephalic,  with  an  index  of 
826  ;  three  were  mesaticephalic,  ranging  from  756  to  799,  in- 
cluding one,  which,  if  the  ophryo-occipital  length  had  been  taken, 
would  have  been  included  amongst  the  brachycephalic ;  six  were 
dolichocephalic  ranging  from  702  to  743,  and  three  were  hyper- 
dolichocephalic  ranging  from  689  to  696. 

Including  together  the  skeletons  in  the  Woodcuts  and  Eotherley 
villages,  all  of  which  were  Eomano-Britons,  the  following  is  the 
result: — Brachycephalic,  two;  mesaticephalic,  ten;  dolicho- 
cephalic, eleven ;  hyperdolichocephalic,  three. 

In  my  address  to  the  Archaeological  Institute  at  Salisbury 
("  Journ.  Arch.  Inst.,"  xliv,  page  271),  I  have  referred  to  the 
peculiarities  of  this  district  as  an  ancient  ethnical  frontier,  and 
to  the  existence  of  a  small  dark  race  of  people  amongst  the 
peasantry  at  the  present  time. 

The  practice  of  burying  in  the  villages,  which  has  been 
brought  to  light  by  my  examination  of  two  of  them,  affords  good 
opportunities  of  studying  the  peculiarities  of  race  in  Eomaii 
times,  and  the  number  of  these  villages  as  yet  unexplored 
appears  to  promise  a  rich  harvest  for  future  anthropological 
research. 

DISCUSSION. 

The  PRESIDENT  drew  attention  to  the  curious  uniformity  in  the 
calculated  statures  of  the  18  males  and  10  females,  as  shown  in 
the  suspended  diagram,1  where  they  were  severally  represented  by 
vertical  lines,  marshalled  in  the  order  of  their  lengths.  There  was 
only  a  difference  of  3  inches  between  the  stature  whose  class  place 
was  one-quarter  of  the  length  of  that  class,  reckoned  from  its 
lower  end,  and  the  stature  whose  class  place  was  three-quarters 
of  the  length  of  the  class,  reckoned  also  from  its  lower  end. 
In  other  words,  there  was  a  difference  of  only  3  inches  between 
the  lower  and  upper  quartiles  of  the  class,  which  is  the  same 
thing  as  twice  the  "  probable  error "  of  the  series  of  recorded 
statures.  He  had  shown  that  the  difference  between  the  quartiles 
in  any  class  of  English  men  of  the  present  day,  who  belonged  to 
the  same  broad  social  rank,  was  3'4  inches ;  similarly  as  regards 
English  women.  If  modern  men  and  women  were  mixed  together 
in  the  above  proportions  of  18  to  10,  the  difference  between  the 
quartiles  of  the  mixed  series  would  be  much  increased ;  it  would 

1  A  diagram  was  exhibited  in  which  the  statures  of  28  individuals  (18  male 
and  10  female)  were  given  as  inferred  from  the  measurement  of  the  long  bones 
of  the  lower  limbs. 


200  Discussion. 

amount  to  between  4£  and  4^  inches.1  Bat  the  difference  between 
the  variability  in  stature  of  these  ancient  races  and  the  modern 
ones  must  be  greater  than  is  indicated  by  the  above  figares  of 
3  inches  for  the  one  and  4|  for  the  other,  because  the  statures 
from  which  the  figure  3  is  derived  had  not  been  obtained  by  direct 
measurement.  They  were  inferred  from  the  length  of  the  leg 
bones,  and  were  therefore  "  fallible  "  estimates  of  the  real  statures. 
It  would  be  easy  to  subtract  the  effect  of  this  superadded  variation, 
if  we  knew  the  "probable  error  "of  this  fallible  estimate,  bat  it 
lias  never  yet  been  determined.  It  may  be  that  the  ancient  Britons 
were  more  uniform  in  stature  than  our  modern  and  greatly  mixed 
races,  and  again  that  the  statures  of  the  two  sexes  may  have  been 
less  different.  It  may  also  be  that  the  individuals  in  the  same  en- 
campment were  closely  inter- related  and  had  a  family  likeness.  The 
facts  to  be  accounted  for  cannot,  however,  be  strictly  ascertained 
until  osteologists  shall  have  determined  the  "  probable  error  "  just 
alluded  to,  which  would  be  a  matter  of  little  difficulty.  It 
would  be  advisable  to  calculate  its  value  in  respect  to  the  height 
of  the  living  man  as  inferred  from  the  measurement  after  death, 
of  his  femur  alone,  of  his  tibia  alone,  and  of  the  mean  of  the 
lengths  of  his  tibia  and  femur.  It  would  then  be  easy  to  cal- 
culate the  variability  of  a  race  from  that  of  the  lengths  of  one 
or  more  of  the  leg  bones  of  many  skeletons.  This,  he  need  hardly 
add,  is  quite  another  question  from  that  of  average  stature. 

Mr.  W.  PBNGELLY  remarked  that,  with  the  Chairman's  per- 
mission, he  would  make  a  few  observations  on  one  or  two  of  the 
topics  which  had  been  so  ably  placed  before  the  meeting  by  General 
Pitt-Rivers. 

Oyster  shells  had  been  mentioned  as  occurring  among  the  finds 
met  with  by  the  author,  and  had  thus  suggested  the  question, 
"  Were  any  other  shells  found  ? "  In  the  most  recent  deposit 
in  Kent's  Cavern,  shells  of  oysters  were  abundant,  but  so  also  were 
those  of  cockles,  limpets,  and  periwinkles,  and  there  were  a  few 
examples  of  Pecten,  and  of  the  internal  shell  of  the  cuttle-fish 
(Sepia  officinalis). 

Shells,  however,  were  found,  but  less  abundantly,  in  some  of  the 
older  deposits ;  thus  cockle  shells  occurred  in  the  granular  stalag- 
mitic  floor,  and  in  a  branch  of  the  cavern,  known  as  the  "  Wolf's 

1  I  calculated  this  value  from  the  data  in  my  table  of  "  Anthropometric 
Per-centiles,"  published  in  the  "  Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst.,"  Vol.  XIV,  p.  277,  and 
upon  the  supposition  that  the  proportion  between  the  two  sexes  was  as  20  males 
to  10  females.  In  this  case  the  table  gives  most  of  the  data  by  inspection,  and 
the  rest  by  interpolation,  as  follows.  The  mo;«t  probable  heights  for  10  females, 
taken  at  hazard,  are  those  of  each  successive  tenth  per-centile  ;  these  are  printed 
in  my  table.  Those  ior  20  males  are  the  values  of  each  successive  fifth  per- 
centile.  In  the  table,  the  oth  and  the  95th  are  given,  leaving  the  15th,  25th- 
85th  to  be  found  by  interpolation.  When  this  is  done,  and  the  20  males  and 
ID  females  values  are  mixed  together  and  then  marshalled,  it  will  be  found  that 
the  value  of  the  25th  per-centile,  or  lower  quartile,  is  64'5  inches  ;  and  that  of 
the  75th  per-centile,  or  upper  quartile,  is  68'8  inches.  The  difference  between 
these  is  4'3  inches. — F.GK  • 


Discussion.  201 

Cave,"  twenty-five  shells  of  the  common  pecten  were  found  in  a 
cupboard-like  recess,  between  two  large  masses  of  limestone,  in  the 
still  older  cave  eai'th.  In  one  instance  two,  and  in  another  five, 
of  them  were  found  neatly  fitted  one  into  another  and  cemented 
together  with  stalagmite.  There  could  be  no  doubt  that  a  human 
being  had  not  only  packed  them,  but  placed  them  where  they 
were  found.  The  fact  that  at  least  some  of  them  were  "  dead 
shells"  proved  that  they  were  taken  to  the  cavern,  certainly  in  some 
cases,  not  because  they  contained  an  article  of  food,  bat  because 
they  were  useful  as  utensils.  One  or  two  of  them  contained  traces 
of  charred  wood.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  General 
Pitt-Rivers  met  with  any  "  dead  shells  "  among  his  finds. 

Though  the  articles  found  on  the  existing  surface  of  the  im- 
mediately adjacent  ground  were,  as  the  author  suggests,  probably 
older  then  those  at  the  bottom  of  the  pits,  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  breaking  the  surface  was  necessarily  the  earliest  work 
of  the  excavators ;  so  that  it  is  neither  impossible  nor  improbable 
that  at  this  first  stage  a  tool  might  occasionally  be  lost,  or  broken 
and  cast  aside,  and  thus  one  would  not  be  surprised  to  find  on  the 
surface  as  it  now  exists,  tools  older,  and  tools  more  modern,  than 
those  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  pits. 

Mr.  A.  L.  LEWIS  having  commented  upon  the  exhaustive  manner 
in  which  General  Pitt- Rivers  had  conducted  his  investigations,  and 
the  beautiful  models  which  showed  the  results  obtained  in  a 
manner  which  would  be  at  once  the  example  and  the  despair  of  all 
future  explorers,  asked  for  further  information  as  to  the  time  and 
manner  of  the  filling  up  of  the  pits.  He  thought  the  General's 
statement  as  to  the  extent  of  difference  in  height  brought  out  by 
different  methods  of  measurement  of  bones  must  lead  to  uneasy 
reflections  as  to  the  value  of  some  former  statistics,  and  theories 
based  upon  those  statistics,  concerning  the  early  inhabitants  of  this 
country.  He  agreed  with  Dr.  Beddoe  that  some  of  the  short 
people  in  this  country  (whatever  might  be  the  case  elsewhere)  owed 
very  much  of  their  low  stature  to  an  abnormal  shortness  of  the 
thigh,  and  that  the  thigh  was  an  extremely  unsafe  index  of  height. 
It  appeared  from  General  Pitt-Rivers'  models  that  some  perfect 
skeletons  had  been  found  on  his  estate :  would  it  not  be  possible  to 
put  some  of  these  skeletons  together  with  leather  or  india-rubber 
washers  to  represent  the  cartilages,  and  to  measure  their  actual 
length?  If  this  were  done,  and  the  result  compared  with  that 
obtained  from  calculation  of  the  measurement  of  the  thigh-bone, 
this  very  important  question  might  perhaps  be  settled. 


The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author  : — 


202      DR.  BEDDOE. — On  the  Stature  of  the  Older  Races  of 


On  the  STATURE  of  the  OLDER  RACES  of  ENGLAND,  as  estimated 
from  the  LONG  BONES. 

By  JOHN  BEDDOE,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 

HAVING,  through  the  kindness  of  General  Pitt-Rivers,  had  the 
advantage  of  examining  the  human  remains  from  a  Romano- 
British  village  on  his  property,  I  was  surprised  to  find  how 
low  was  the  stature  of  the  inhabitants,  as  calculated  from  the 
data  of  Professor  Humphry. 

This  led  me  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  subject  of  the  resti- 
tution of  stature  from  the  long  bones,  especially  the  femur,  than 
I  had  previously  done.  One  result  has  been  that  I  have  satisfied 
myself  that  these  very  valuable  data  have  been  made  use  of 
without  the  corrections  necessary  for  this  particular  purpose,  and 
that,  even  in  the  hands  of  so  good  an  observer  as  Rolleston,  they 
have  yielded  erroneous  results. 

In  the  first  place,  these  measurements  were  made  by  Professor 
Humphry  on  the  skeleton  ;  and  the  standard  referred  to  was 
the  height  or  length  of  the  skeleton,  not  of  the  living  body. 
Topinard1  says  that  35  millimetres  (14  inch)  should  be  allowed 
on  this  account,  others  have  made  even  higher  estimates:  I 
have  adhered  throughout  this  paper  to  that  of  Topinard. 

Moreover,  common  observation  teaches  us  that  short  men 
have,  as  a  rule,  shorter  legs  in  proportion  than  tall  men  ;  and  it 
would  seem  that  this  applies  to  both  femur  and  tibia.  Hence 
the  indiscriminate  application  of  Humphry's  proportions  must, 
in  a  series  sufficiently  large  to  swamp  the  exceptions,  bring  out 
an  unduly  low  stature  for  short  men,  and  an  unduly  high  one 
for  tall  men,  thus  exaggerating  the  actual  differences. 

On  this,  as  on  so  many  other  subjects.  Topinard  is  our  prin- 
cipal authority ;  but  Orfila,  whose  observations  are  rectified  and 
summarised  by  Topinard  in  his  "  Anthropologie  Ge'ne'rale,"  had 
already  accomplished  some  important  work  upon  it,  though  his 
object  was  purely  medico-legal.  Orfila  measured  the  long  bones 
of  persons  whose  living  stature  had  been  ascertained. 

I  have  constructed  a  table  including  75  skeletons  of  Topinard's, 
and  42  of  Orfila's,  together  with  a  few  European  skeletons  of 
Pruner  Bey's,  two  of  Williamson's  from  Fort  Pitt,  and  those  of 
the  two  giants  in  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons, 
for  the  measurements  of  which  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Garson. 
The  value  of  the  table  is  diminished  by  the  fact  that  we  do  not 
know  exactly  how  Orfila  arid  Williamson  took  their  measure- 
ments— what  they  took  for  their  extreme  points.  Topinard  puts 

1  "  Antkropologie  Generale,  "  page  474. 


England,  as  Estimated  from  the  Long  Bones.  203 

the  difference  between  his  "  maximum  length  "  of  the  femur,  and 
that  which  he  calls  the  "  oblique  maximum,"  or  "  maximum  in 
position "  (i.e.,  that  gotten  by  the  apposition  of  both  condyles 
against  one  of  two  parallel  planes,  and  of  the  head  against  the 
other)  at  4  millimetres,  which  would  make  a  difference  of  about 
15  millimetres,  or  three-fifths  of  an  inch,  in  the  whole  stature. 
Now  this,  I  am  disposed  from  internal  evidence  to  believe,  was 
the  method  adopted  by  both  Orfila  and  Williamson. 

Topinard's  figures  indicate  a  considerable  increase  in  the  pro- 
portion borne  by  the  femur  to  the  skeleton,  as  one  proceeds  from 
the  low  to  the  middle  statures  (1,685  millimetres,  about  5  feet 
6'3  inches),  but  no  difference  between  the  middle  and  the  tall. 
Orfila's  even  indicate  a  moderate  decrease  after  5  feet  7|  inches, 
but  the  significance  of  this  anomaly  is  diminished  by  the  recur- 
rence of  higher  proportions  for  the  femur  among  the  giants. 
Even  here,  however,  there  is  no  uniformity ;  but  it  seems  likely 
that  in  giants  the  tibia  is  more  often  excessively  long  than  the 
femur.  I  have  endeavoured  to  get  some  further  light  on  this  part 
of  the  subject  from  Quetelet's  careful  measurements  of  the  living 
subject.  He  examined  fourteen  female  models,  of  whom  ten 
were  Belgians,  two  Romans,  ane  a  Parisian,  and  one  a  Spaniard. 
Of  these  three  might  be  rated  as  moderately  tall  women,  averag- 
ing 1,611  millimetres  or  63'4  inches,  which  may  be  the  equiva- 
lent of  68  inches  in  European  males ;  eight  as  of  middle  stature, 
between  60  and  63  inches ;  and  three  as  short,  averaging  1,507 
millimetres  or  59'3  inches.  Now  the  proportion  borne  to  the 
total  stature  by  the  distance  from  the  top  of  the  trochanter  to 
the  ground,  was  in  the  tall  women  52'6,  in  those  of  medium 
height  51 '4,  and  in  the  short  ones  only  491.  We  have  here  a 
regular  increase,  correlative  with  the  height,  in  the  proportions 
of  the  lower  extremity.  On  the  other  hand,  the  general  result 
of  Quetelet's  observations  on  the  proportions  of  men,  including 
Belgians,  Ojibbeway  Indians,  and  Kaffirs,  shews  no  increase  of 
relative  length  of  the  femur  or  of  the  lower  extremity  in  men 
of  6  feet  high  over  those  of  5  feet  9  inches,  or  even  less. 

To  sum  up,  it  would  seem  that,  as  we  ascend  the  scale  of 
stature,  the  relative  length  of  the  femur  and  of  the  whole  lower 
extremity  continues  to  increase  until  we  reach  the  middle  height 
or  something  more,  but  that  beyond  that  point  such  increase  is 
small  or  doubtful,  especially  in  the  femur,  any  augmentation 
being  more  apt  to  come  out  in  the  tibia. 

It  may  be  long  before  Topinard  can  carry  out  his  intention 
of  collecting  a  sufficient  number  of  specimens  at  every  stage. 
Meanwhile,  I  will  endeavour  to  lay  down  a  rule  for  reconstituting 
stature,  imperfect  indeed,  but  better  than  any  now  in  use. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  method  based  on  Humphry  errs 


204      DR.  BEDDOE. — On  the  Stature  of  the  Older  Races  of 

in  two  respects.  The  first  is  its  omission  to  take  into  account 
the  soft  parts,  the  integument  of  the  skull,  and  the  cushion  of 
the  heel :  this  omission  can  easily  be  rectified  by  adding,  with 
Topinard,  1'4  inch,  or  35  millimetres.  The  second,  its  applica- 
tion of  the  same  proportions  to  tall,  to  medium,  and  to  short 
men,  it  is  less  easy  to  rectify. 

The  necessity  of  such  rectification  may  be  shewn  by  quoting 
some  of  Rolleston's  measurements  from  his  and  Green  well's 
important  joint  work. 

The  young  woman  from  Flixton  Wold  is  spoken  of  as  having 
had  a  stature  of  61  inches  (1,550  mm.).  Her  femur  measured 
16'8  inches  (426  mm.),  and  her  tibia,  not  including,  apparently, 
the  malleolus,  13'4  inches  (340  mm.).  These  data,  whether  we 
follow  Orfila  or  Topinard,  indicate  a  probable  stature  of  quite 
62^  inches,  if  not  more.  Thurnam  would  have  computed  it  at 
from  6T5  to  63'2.  A  woman  from  Sherbum  Wold,  of  dolicho- 
cephalic type,  is  put  by  Kolleston  at  56  inches,  her  femur 
having  evidently  measured  1 5 -4  inches  (about  390  mm.).  Allow- 
ing for  the  "  maximum  oblique  "  measurement,  for  the  soft  parts, 
and  for  the  woman  having  certainly  been  of  short  figure,  she 
may  probably  have  had  a  stature  of  58'7  inches.  Again, 
Rolleston  speaks  of  a  femur  found  at  Upper  Swell  as  probably 
male,  but  giving  a  stature  of  only  59  inches  (1,500  mm.)  to  its 
owner.  This  estimate  must  have  been  derived  by  him  from  a 
length  of  16'2  inches,  from  which  Topinard  would  have  inferred, 
probably,  a  height  of  61'6  inches,  Orfila  one  of  62'2  at  least,  and 
Thurnam  one  of  60'8.  My  rule  would  give  in  this  case  61 '6 
inches  (1,564  mm.). 

Thurnam  in  his  earlier  days  used  a  very  erroneous  way  of 
computing,  but  subsequently  struck  out  a  new  plan,  which 
yields  very  close  approximations  in  the  case  of  statures  either  a 
little  above  or  a  Hi  tie  below  the  middle.  This  is  the  striking  off 
an  inch  from  the  length  of  the  femur,  together  with  half  of  any 
excess  there  may  be  over  18  inches,  and  then  multiplying  by 
four.  It  fails  by  deficiency  in  very  low  and  in  gigantic  figures, 
and  is  slightly  in  excess  at  about  18  inches.  Another  very  fail- 
rule  of  his  was  the  addition  of  one  inch  to  twice  the  combined 
length  of  the  femur  and  tibia.  This  gives  an  insufficient  result 
with  low  statures,  but  is  otherwise  fairly  correct. 

When  the  tibia  alone  is  available,  its  length,  including  the 
malleolus,  may  be  multiplied  by  4'5  ;  the  result  will  generally  be 
a  little  too  small,  except  in  giants.  The  maximum  length  of 
the  humerus  may  be  multiplied  by  five  and  T4  inch  added,  but 
here  as  well  as  in  the  tibia,  the  uncertainty  of  modes  of  measure- 
ment comes  in. 

The  easiest  way  to  apply  Humphry's  table  is  to  multiply  the 


England,  as  Estimated  from  the  Long  Bones.  205 

length  of  the  femur  by  four,  subtract  one-eleventh  of  the  pro- 
duct, and  add  1'4  inch,  or  35  millimetres.  The  result  is  very 
deficient  in  the  low  statures,  but  in  the  higher  ones  very  fair,  or 
slightly  in  excess.1 

The  plan  I  venture  to  propose,  however,  is  founded  on  the 
femur  alone.  I  take  away  from  the  length  of  the  femur  one- 
quarter  of  the  excess  over  13  inches  up  to  19,  and  thereafter 
only  one-eighth ;  and  then  multiply  by  four. 

Thus  let  F  =  length  of  femur  in  inches,  and  x  the  living 
stature;  then — 

x  =  4  (F  -  $  (F  -  13)  -  H*  -  13  -  [F-  19])) 
=  3  F  +  F  -  i  (F  -  13)  -  i  (F  -  13  -  [F  -  19]) 
=  3  F  +  13  +  i  (F  —  19) 

Thus,  more  simply,  add  to  thrice  the  length  of  the  femur  in 
inches  13  inches,  and  one-half  of  any  excess  over  19  inches. 
In  women,  for  13  and  19  read  12 '5  and  17 '5. 

Or,  on  the  metric  system,  add  to  thrice  the  length  of  the 
femur  33  centimetres,  together  with  one-half  of  the  excess  over 
48  centimetres.  In  women  read  32  and  44  or  44'5.  The  reason 
for  making  these  allowances  in  the  case  of  women  is  as  follows : 
Though  the  average  proportion  borne  by  the  lower  extremities 
to  the  stature  is,  if  anything,  rather  smaller  in  women  than  in 
men,  yet  as  the  middle  stature  in  the  former  corresponds  to  a 
low  stature  in  the  latter,  it  seems  probable  that  the  height  about 
which  women  pass  from  dwarfish  to  average  proportions  of  trunk 
and  limbs  must  be  somewhat  lower  than  in  the  case  of  men. 

Several  interesting  points  appear  to  arise  from  the  second 
table.  In  the  first  place,  it  indicates  that  the  neolithic  or  long- 
barrow  race,  if  we  may  judge  from  what  remains  we  possess, 
were  not  quite  so  small  as  Eolleston  thought  them,  nor  so  very 
inferior  in  stature  to  the  bronze  race  as  Thurnam  made  them 
out  to  be.  The  figures  on  which  the  latter  finally  rested  were 
65*4  inches  (1,661  mm.)  and  68'4  inches  (1,737  mm.) ;  shewing 
a  difference  between  the  two  races  of  exactly  3  inches. 

I  confess  that  my  rule  fails  here  (in  the  long-barrow  men)  to 
the  extent  of  bringing  out  an  error  of  excess  of  perhaps  two  or 
even  three-tenths  of  an  inch  (5  to  8  mm.).  Topinard's  average 
from  femora  of  18  inches  is  only  66 '3  inches,  but  the  evidence  of 
Orfila  and  of  Humphry  is  strong  just  here,  and  even  if  we  allow 
that  Orfila  used  the  maximum  oblique  way  of  measurement,  we 
can  hardly  put  the  stature  of  these  long-barrow  men  lower  than 
66'7  inches  (or  1,694  mm.).  The  average  difference  between  a 

1  The  results  of  this  procedure  appear  in  iny  table  under  column  6,  styled 
"  Humphry,  corrected  for  soft  parts." 

VOL.  XVII.  P 


206      DK.  BEDDOE. — On  the  Stature  of  the  Older  Peaces  of 

stone  man  and  a  bronze  man  will  therefore  stand  at  2*7  inches 
(68  mm.).  No  wonder  that  Thurnam  discarded  his  own  method 
of  computation  for  one  based  on  Humphry.  The  former  gave 
him  a  difference  of  only  1-6  inch  (40  mm.)  between  the  two 
races,  the  latter  one  of  3  (76  mm.),  thus  emphasising  Thurnam's 
great  discovery  of  the  racial  difference  between  British  stone 
men  and  bronze  men. 

The  supposed  great  inferiority  in  stature  of  the  neolithic 
women,  dwelt  upon  by  Rolleston,  is  scarcely  borne  out  by  my 
computation — 61*5  inches  is  not  a  very  low  stature.  But  more 
data  are  wanting. 

My  Romano-British  examples  are  mostly  taken  from  one 
locality,  White  Horse  Hill,  and  are  of  course  less  valuable  than 
if  they  had  been  derived  from  several  sources.  Both  men  and 
women,  especially  the  latter,  are  smaller  than  those  of  the 
earlier  populations.  I  look  forward  with  interest  to  the  light 
which  General  Pitt-Rivers's  discoveries  at  Rushmore  may  throw 
upon  this  part  of  the  subject. 

Of  the  Anglo-Saxons  included  in  my  tables  a  few  pppear  in 
more  than  one  of  the  component  lists  ;  the  actual  number  of  in- 
dividuals being  about  50  men  and  25  women.  They  are  taken 
from  several  districts  or  settlements  in  the  south  and  south-east 
of  England,  and  are  probably  sufficient  in  number  to  enable  us 
to  approach  a  true  estimate  of  the  average  stature  of  the  Saxon 
population  in  that  region.  As  the  restitution  of  the  average 
stature  was  seldom,  apparently,  a  leading  motive  with  those  who 
superintended  their  exhumation,  there  is  a  chance  that  in  some 
instances  selection  may  have  been  exercised,  the  longest  femora 
having  been  measured,  and  the  shorter  ones  neglected.  This 
may  have  been  the  case  at  Harnham,  but  at  Long  Wittenham 
and  Brighthampton  it  is  pretty  clear  that  Mr.  Akerman  mea- 
sured all  the  femora  he  could  find  in  measurable  condition ;  and 
w  ehave  probably  a  fair  sample  of  the  Saxon  peasantry.  The  few 
men  buried  with  swords,  whether  eorlcundmen  or  tithingmen, 
are  somewhat  taller  than  the  average,  as  might  perhaps  have 
been  expected. 

Reports  of  the  length  of  unarticulated  skeletons  I  have  passed 
by  as  quite  untrustworthy.  Thus  a  South  Saxon  skeleton  from 
Firle  was  described  to  Barnard  Davis  as  6  feet  4  inches  in 
length,  its  femur  being,  according  to  Davis  himself,  only  19  inches; 
while  a  skeleton  at  Brighthampton,  with  a  femur  of  the  same 
length  and  a  tibia  of  16  inches,  is  recorded  as  measuring  6  feet 
7  inches.  These  errors  were  not  committed  by  anatomists,  and 
are  beyond  any  that  could  possibly  arise  from  different  ways  of 
measuring  the  bones. 

The   measurements   of  the  Saxon    nobles  from   Ely  are  of 


England,  «;?  Estimated  from  the  Long  Bones,  207 

special  interest,  apart  from  the  clear  identification  of  their  owners, 
from  the  fact  that  Mr.  Bentham  has  given  us  the  means  of 
checking  our  conclusions  in  the  lengths  of  the  tibia,  humerus, 
ulna,  and  clavicle.  It  would  seem  that  either  Bentham  used 
Topinard's  oblique  maximum,  thus  understating  the  length  of 
the  femora  by  perhaps  one  per  cent.,  or  that  the  tibia,  in  the 
bishops  especially,  were  unusually  long.  I  am  a  little  inclined 
to  think  this  last  is  an  Anglo-Saxon  peculiarity.  From  internal 
evidence  one  can  say  that  Bentham  was  very  careful  in  his  pro- 
cedure. My  final  result  is  that  the  hero  of  Maldon  tight  must 
have  been  at  least  as  tall  as  my  rule  makes  him,  over  6  feet 
3  inches,  and  that  the  bishops  were  a  little  taller  than  it  allows, 
probably  quite  69  inches,  or  1,750  millimetres.1 

1  I  have  not  made  use  of  Rolleston's  measurements  of  the  Frilford  skeletons. 
They  would  have  been  very  valuable  for  my  purpose,  had  their  racial  attribution 
been  easier  :  but  in  many  cases  it  was  by  no  means  free  from  doubt,  as  Rolleston 
acknowledged.  Frilford  seems  to  have  been  inhabited,  ia  the  later  Roman  period, 
by  tall  men  and  short  women.  I  am  inclined  to  suspect  that  some  of  the  tall 
men  assigned  by  Kolleston  to  the  Hohberg  type  may  have  been  Eoman  soldiers 
of  Germanic  blood. 


p  2 


208  DK.  BEDDOK. — On  the  Stature  of  the  Older  Races  of 


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England,  as  Estimated  from  the  Long  Bones. 


209 


TABLE  II. 

STATUBE  OF  THE  OLDEE  EACES. 


Bace,  <fcc. 

Locality  and  Author. 

Femur, 
inches, 
average. 

Tibia, 
inches, 
average. 

Stature, 
inches. 

Stature, 
mm. 

Stature, 
(f+t) 
X2-I-1 

25  Neolithic        ...        m 

Thurnam  

18 

67 

1702 

5                        ...        w 

Davis,    Thurnam,    and 
Bolleston 

16-35 

61-55 

1563 

17   Brachyc.    fr.  (round 
barrows)                ni 

Davis  and  Thurnam 

18-66 

69 

1752 

27  Bound  barrow          m 

Thurnam            

18-8 

69-4 

1762 

2           do.                     w 

Davis,    Thurnam,  and 
Kolleston 

17-68 

65-54 

1665 

10  Romano-British       m 

Davis  and  Thurnam 

17-88 

66-64 

1693 

4         do.           ...        w 

do. 

16-07 

60-7 

1542 

13  Anglo-Saxon  ...        m 

do. 

18-76 

... 

69  -28 

1760 

3         do.           ...        w 

do. 

16-66 

62-2 

1579 

23  Anglo-Saxon            m 

Long  Wittenham  (Aker- 
man) 

18-38 

- 

68-14 

1730 

17           do.                   w 

do.               da. 

16-63 

... 

62-4 

1584 

7  do.  with  tibiae           m 

do.              do. 

19-03 

15-9 

70-1 

1780 

70-86 

3  do.  sword-bearers     m 

Long    Wittenham    and 
Brighthampton,  do. 

18-75 

69-25 

1753 

6  do.         do.              m 

Brighthampton,  do. 

18-16 

... 

67-5 

1714 

2  do.         do.                w 

do.             do. 

16-75 

62-75 

1593 

4  do.          do.               m 

Harnham,  Wilts,  do.    ... 

19-37 

... 

71  1 

1885 

4  do.          do.               w 

do.            do. 

18 

67 

1702 

3  Anglo-Saxon  ...        m 

Ozingell,  Kent  (B.  Davis) 

19-1 

70-15 

1782 

Earl  Brithnoth 

Ely  (Bentham)  

20-5 

16-75 

76-25 

1911 

7V5 

5  Anglo-Saxon  Bishops 

do.        do  

18-4 

15-54 

68-2 

1732 

68-88 

Anglo  -  Saxon      general 

18-57 

68'4 

1747 

average      ...        m 
Do.              do.        w 

16-84 

63-07 

1602 

210  List  of  Presents. 


NOVEMBER  8ra,  1887. 

Prof.  A.  H.  KEANE,  B.A.,  Vice-President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 
The  election  of  the  following  new  members  was  announced  : — 

JAMES  KINGSTON  BAKTON,  Esq.,  of  2,  Courtfield  Road,  Glou- 
cester Eoad,  S.W.;  EDWARD  BELLAMY,  Esq.,  F.R.C.S.,  of  17, 
Wimpole  Street,  W. ;  GEORGE  JAMES  HENDERSON,  Esq.,  of 
Caterthum,  North  Dulwich,  S.E. ;  and  BERNARD  HOLLANDER, 
Esq.,  of  52,  Welbeck  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  W. 

The  following  presents  were  announced,  and  thanks  voted  to 
the  respective  donors : — 

FOR  THE  LIBRARY. 

From  FRANCIS  GALTON,  Esq.,  F.R.S. — Monismo  o  Nichilismo. 
2  Vols.  By  F.  Maltese. 

From  Prof.  R.  VIRCHOW. — Das  Todtenfeld  von  Ancon  in  Peru. 
Ein  Beitragzur  Kenntniss  der  Kultur  und  Industrie  des  Inca- 
Reiches  nach  den  ergebnissen  eigener  Ausgrabungen.  Von 
W.  Reiss  und  A.  Stiibel. 

From  E.  W.  BRABROOK,  Esq. — Perioden  im  Gewicht  der  Kinder  und 
in  der  Sonnenwiirme,  Beobachtungen  von  R.  Malling-Hanseu. 

From  the  AUTHOR. — Excavations  in  Cranborne  Chase,  near  Rush- 
more,  on  the  borders  of  Dorset  and  Wilts.  By  Lieutenant- 
General  Pitt-Rivers,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  &c. 

China  in  America :  a  Study  in  the  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese 

in  tbe  Eastern  Cities  of  the  United  States.  By  Stewart 
Culin. 

The  Babylonian  Chronicle.     By  Theo.  G.  Pinches,  M.R.A.S. 

The  Solomon  Islands.     By  Baron  A.  von  Hiigel. 

Le  Role  de  la  Science  dans  I'Acclimatation.    Par  M.  Dareste. 

Przyczynek  do  Etnografii  ludu  ruskiego  na  Wolyniu.  By 

Prof.  Dr.  I.  Kopernicki. 

De  praehistorische  steenen  wapenen  en  werktuigen  uit  den 

Oost-Indischen  Archipel,  beschouwd  uit  een  archeologisch  en 
etnographisch  oogpunt.  Door  C.  M.  Pleyte  Wzn. 

• Translation  of  the  "  Ko-ji-ki,"  or  "  Records  of  Ancient 

Matters."  By  Basil  Hall  Chamberlain. 

The  Language,  Mythology,  and  Geographical  Nomenclature 

of  Japan,  viewed  in  the  light  of  Aino  Studies.  By  Basil  Hall 
Chamberlain. 

From  the  AUTHORS. — La  Race  Humaine  de  Neanderthal  ou  de 
Canstadt  en  Belgique.  Par  Julien  Fraipont  et  Max  Lohest. 

Notes  sur  1'Ethnographie  de  la  partie  orientale  de  TAfrique 


List  of  Presen  ts.  211 

Equatoriale.     Par  le  Docteur  Victor  Jacques  et  le  Capitaine 

E.  Storms. 
From,  the  AUTHORS. — Le  Cimetiere  de  Saaftingen.     Par  Louis  de 

Pauw  et  le  Docteur  Victor  Jacques. 
Crani    Peruviani    Antichi    del   Museo    Antropologico   nella 

Universita  di  Roma.     Studio  di  G.  Sergi  e  L.  Moschen. 
From  the  STATE  BOARD  OF  HEALTH,  MASSACHUSETTS. — Forty-fifth 

Report  to  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  relating  to  the 

Registry  and  Return  of  Births,  Marriages,  and  Deaths  in  the 

Commonwealth,  for  the  year  ending  December  31,  1886. 

Eighteenth  Annual  Report. 

From  the  DEPTSCHE  GESELLSCHAFTFUR  ANTHROPOLOGIE,  ETHNOLOGIE, 

UND  UBGESCHICHTE. — Archiv  fur  Anthropologie.     Band  xvii. 

Parts  1,  2. 

Correspondenz-Blatt.     1887.     Nos.  6-8. 

From  the  BERLIN  GESELLSCHAFT  FUR  ANTHKOPOLOGIE,  ETHNOLOGTE, 

TJND  URGESCHICHTE. — Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologic.     1887.    Heft. 

.3,4. 
From  the  SOCIETA  ITALIANA  DI  ANTROPOLOGIA,  ETNOLOGIA,  E  Psico- 

LOGIA   COMPARATA. — Archivio   per   1'Antropologia.     Vol.    xvii. 

Fas.  1,  2. 
From   the   UNITED    STATES   GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY. — Sixth    Annual 

Report.     1884-85. 

Bulletin.     Nos.  34-39. 

From  the  UNITED  STATES  BUREAU  OF  ETHNOLOGY. — Fourth  Annual 

Report.     1882-83. 
—  Work  in  Mound  Exploration  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology. 

By  Cyrus  Thomas. 
From  the  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTE. — Report.     1885.     Part  1. 

Smithsonian  Miscellaneous  Collections.     Vols  xxviii-xxx. 

From  the  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  PEABODY  MUSEUM. — Twentieth  Annual 

Report.     Vol.  iii.     No.  7. 
Conventionalism    in    Ancient   American   Art.     By.    F.    W. 

Putnam. 
From  the  ROYAL  ARCHAEOLOGICAL   INSTITUTE.- — The   Archaeological 

Journal.     No.  174. 
From  the  ROYAL  SCOTTISH  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY. — The  Scottish 

Geographical  Magazine.     Vol.  iii.     Nos.  7-11. 
From  the  ESSEX  FIELD  CLUB. — The  Essex  Naturalist.  1887.  Nos.  5-9. 
From  the  Socilh'E'  ARCH^OLOGIQUE,  AGRAM. — Viestnik  hrvatskoga 

Arkeologickoga  Druztva.     Godina  ix.     Br.  2-4. 
From  the  ACADE\MIE  ROYALE  DBS  SCIENCES  DE  BELGIQUE. — Memoires 

des  Membres.     Tom.  xlvi. 
Memoires  couronnes  et  des  savants  etrangers.     Tom.   xlvii, 

xlviii. 
Memoires    couronnes    et   autres    memoires.      Tom.    xxxvii, 

xxxviii,  xxxix. 

Bulletins  de  1'Academie  3°  serie.     Tom.  ix-xiii. 

Annuaires  de  1886  et  1887. 

Catalogue.     le  et  2e  parties. 


212  List  of  Presents. 

From  the  K.  K.  AKADEMIE  DEE  WISSENSCHAFTEN,  WIEN. — Sitznngs- 
berichte  philos.-histor.  Classe,  Band  cxii,  Heft  1,  2 ;  Band 
cxiii,  Heft  1,  2 ;  Band  cxiv,  Heft  1 :  math.-naturw.  Classe, 
I  Abthlg.,  1886,  Nos.  4-10;  II  Abthlg.,  1880,  Nos.  3-10; 
1887,  Nos.  1,  2.  Ill  Abthlg.,  1886,  Nos.  1-10. 

From  the  MAGYAR  TUDOMANYOS  AKAD^MIA. — Almanach  1887. 

Nyelvtudomanyi  Ertekezesek,  xiii,  3,  4  and  6-12. 

Nyelvtudomanyi  Kozlemenyek,  xx,  1,  2. 

Munkacsi  Bernat.  Votjak  nepkolteszeti  hagyomanyok. 

Tortenetfrudomanyi  Ertekezesek,  xiii,  2,  4,  5. 

Tarsadalmi  Ertekezesek,  viii,  7-10 ;  ix,  1. 

Dr.  Wlassics  Gyula.     A  biinkiserlet  es  bevegzett  biincselek- 


meny,  II. 

Ungarische  Revue.     1887.     Nr.  1-7. 

Naturwissenschaftliche  Berichte.     iv. 

Ethnologische  Mittheilungen  aus  Ungarn.     1887,  Heft  1 . 

From  the  BATAVIAASCH  GENOOTSCHAP   VAN   KUNSTEN  EN   WETEN- 

SCHAPPEN. — Tijdschrift  voor   indische   taal-,  land-  en  volken- 

kunde.     Deel  xxxi,  Afl.  5,  6;  Deel  xxxii,  Afl.  1. 
Notulen  van  de  algemeene  en  bestuurs-vergaderingen.     Deel 

xxv,  Afl.  1,  2. 
Dagh-Register  gehonden  int  Casteel  Batavia  vant  passerende 

daer  ter  plaetse  als  over  gehee]  Nederlandts-India  Anno  1640- 

1641.     Van  Mr.  J.  A.  van  der  Chijs. 
From  the   ACADEMY. — Proceedings  of  the  American  Academy  of 

ArtsS  and  Sciences.     New  Series  Vol.  xii. 
Boletin  de  la  Academia  Nacional  de  Ciencias  en  Cordoba. 

Tom.  ix,  Ent.  3,  4. 
From   the  ASSOCIATION. — Journal  of  the  East  India  Association. 

Vol.  xix,  Nos.  5-7. 

• Journal  of  the  Royal  Historical  and  Archaeological  Associa- 
tion of  Ireland.     Nos.  70-72. 
Report  and  Transactions  of  the  Devonshire  Association.  Vol. 

xix,  and  Extra  Volume.     The  Devonshire  Domesday,  Part  iv. 
Proceedings  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  Vols.  xxxiv,  xxxv. 
From  the  INSTITUTE. — Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Colonial  Institute. 

Vol.  xviii. 
Transactions  and  Proceedings  of  the  New  Zealand  Institute, 

1886.     Vol.  xix. 
From   the    INSTITUTION. — Journal   of   the    Royal   United    Service 

Institution.     No.  140. 
From  the  SOCIETY. — Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society.     Nos.  256- 

258. 
Proceedings  and  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada 

for  the  year  1886.     Vol.  iv. 
Transactions  and  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Victoria. 

Vols.  xxii,  xxiii. 
Proceedings  of    the  Royal  Geographical  Society.     Vol.  ix, 

Nos.  7-11. 


List  of  Presents.  213 

From  the  SOCIETY. —  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.     Nos.  1806- 

1811,  1813-1824 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.     Vol.  xi,  No.  3. 

—  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology.     Vol.  ix, 
Part  1. 

-  Proceedings  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.     1887,  Nos. 
2-5. 

—  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.     No.  274. 

—  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society.     Vol.  xix,  Part  4. 
Transactions    of   the  Asiatic    Society   of  Japan.      Vol.  xv, 

Part  1. 
Journal  of  the  China  Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society. 

Vol.  xxi,  Nos.  5,  6. 
Report  of  the  Leeds  Philosophical  and  Literary  Society  for 

1886-7. 
Bulletins  de  la  Societe  d'Anthropologie  de  Paris.     Tom.  x. 

Fas.  2. 
Bulletin  de  la  Societe  d'Anthropologie  de  Bruxelles.    Tom.  v. 

1886-1887. 
Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Imperiale  des  Naturalistes  de  Moscou. 

1887.     No  3. 

-  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Borda,  Dax.    1887,  No.  3. 

Boletim   da  Sociedade  de  Geographia  de  Lisboa.     6*  Serie, 

No.  12,  7A  Serie,  No.  1. 
Bulletin  de  la  Societe  des  Sciences  Naturelles  de  Neuchatel. 

Tom.  xv. 
IX  Jahresbericht   des  Vereins   fur   Erdkunde  zu  Metz   fur 

1886. 

—  Mittheilungen  der  Anthropologischen  Gesellschaft  in  Wien. 
Band  xvii,  Heft  1. 

Fiinfnndzwanzigster  Bericht  der  Oberhessischen  Gesellschaft 

fur  Natur-  und  Heilkunde. 
From  the  EDITOR.— Nature,  Nos.  922-927,  929-940. 

—  Journal  of  Mental  Science.     Nos.  106,  107. 

-  Timehri.     Nos.  x,  xi. 

American  Antiquarian.     Vol.  ix,  Nos.  3,  5. 

Science.     Nos.  228-234,  236-247. 

Photographic  Times.    Nos.  301-306,  308-313,  315-319. 

L'Homme.     1887.     Nos.  9-11,  13, 14,  16-18. 

Materiaux  pourl'histoire  de  1'Homme.     1887.     Feb.-Aug. 

Revue  d'Ethnographie.     1887,  No.  2. 

—  Bullettino  di  Paletnologia  Italiana.     1887,  N.  7,  8. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  SIR  FREDERICK  J.  GOLDSMID,  K.C.S.I.,  and 
MR.  E.  DELMAR  MORGAN,  F.R.G.S.,  exhibited  some  Implements 
and  Works  of  Art  from  the  Lower  Congo. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 


214  R  C.  PHILLIPS. — The  Lower  Congo; 


The  LOWER  CONGO;  a  SOCIOLOGICAL  STUDY. 

By   ElCHARD   COBDEN   PHILLIPS. 
[WITH  PLATE  V.] 

THE  part  of  Africa  dealt  with  in  the  following  pages  is  the 
Congo  River,  from  about  Vivi  downwards  to  the  mouth,  and  the 
coast  northwards  to  Loango,  and  southwards  as  far  as  Kinsembo. 
The  chief  ports  which  will  be  mentioned  are  as  follows : — On 
the  north  bank  of  the  river,  ascending,  there  are  Banana,  near 
the  mouth,  Ponta  de  Lenha,  Boma  (often  marked  on  maps  as 
Embomma),  Binda  and  Vivi;  on  the  south  bank  San  Antonio, 
Chinivika,  Kisanga,  Chichianga,  Musuku,  Noki,  Angoango,  and 
Matadi,  On  the  coast-line  southwards  are  Cabeqa  da  Cobra, 
Mangue  Grande,  Mukula,  Arnbrizette,  and  Kinsembo;  on  the 
coast  northwards  Kabiuda,  Landana,  Chiioango,  Masabe,  Ponta 
Negra,  and  Loango.  (See  Map,  PL  V.) 

To  understand  the  present  system  of  society  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  take  a  retrospective  view  of  the  same,  and  also  to  set 
down  the  chief  factors,  external  and  internal,  that  have  played  a 
part  in  moulding  the  life  and  character  of  the  native.  Let  us 
commence  with  the  latter  as  they  existed,  say,  thirty  years  ago, 
and  then  trace  the  progress  of  the  tribes  up  to  the  present, 
noting  the  incidence  of  disturbing  influences  when  they  arise. 

Of  the  external  factors  we  will  commence  with  the  climate ; 
this  is  damp,  hot,  and  malarious,  and  uniform  throughout  the 
district  in  question.  The  mean  temperature  may  be  taken  at  75° 
Fahrenheit,  the  limits  being  about  65°  to  90°.  The  oppressive- 
ness of  the  heat  and  the  chill  of  the  cold  seem  to  be  exaggerated 
by  the  great  humidity,  which  is  seldom  less  than  80  per  cent,  of 
saturation,  and  which  often  rises  as  high  as  90  or  95  per  cent.  It 
is  pointed  out  by  Spencer  that  this  character  of  climate  has 
never  been  known  to  give  rise  to,  or  to  sustain  developed  civili- 
sation ;  hot,  dry,  and  healthy  localities  being  the  birthplaces, 
and  a  somewhat  colder  climate  the  nurseries  of  such  tribes  as 
have  laid  the  foundations  of  civilised  nations.  The  similarity  of 
climate  throughout  the  district  deserves  attention  :  this  combined 
with  the  similarity  of  the  soil  renders  the  productiveness  of  the 
whole  district  very  uniform,  no  one  place  giving  rise  to  products 
of  a  different  character  from  those  of  the  others ;  thus  there  is  little 
possibility  of  an  extended  interchange  of  inland  commodities,  as 
each  part  can  make  for  itself  all  that  the  neighbouring  tribes 
could  offer.  The  only  noteworthy  exception  to  this  homogeneity 
is  that  between  the  littoral  tribes  and  the  inland  tribes,  the 
former  can  make  salt,  and  can  catch  and  dry  fish  ;  and  thus  an 


a  Sociological  Study.  215 

interchange  of  commodities  can  take  place  to  some  extent.  The 
influence  of  the  trading  factories  will  be  considered  apart,  as  it 
has  varied  from  time  to  time  during  the  period  which  we  shall 
presently  consider. 

While  on  the  subject  of  climate,  it  must  be  noted  that  the 
yearly  rains  are  very  variable  both  in  their  extent  and  in  their 
time  of  falling,  this  has  a  disturbing  effect  on  the  crops  that  is 
often  disastrous,  paralysis  of  trade  and  scarcity  of  food  being 
the  result  of  these  meteorological  irregularities.  The  food  of 
the  natives  is  mostly  vegetable,  and  the  ravages  of  insects  and 
mould  are  such  as  to  make  a  reserve  supply  impracticable  ;  thus 
the  surplus  from  a  good  year  cannot  be  made  available  in  times 
of  scarcity.  Another  result  is  that  not  more  food  will  be  grown 
than  the  natives  expect  to  consume.  To  enumerate  the  chief 
food-stuffs  of  the  Congo,  the  vegetable  ones  are  mandioca,  maize, 
several  kinds  of  beans,  the  ground-nut  (Arachix  hypoyea),  the 
ground-bean  (Voandzea  subterranea),  a  few  yams,  and  the  palm- 
nut.  This  last  is  not  cultivated,  but  is  cut  from  the  trees 
wherever  they  happen  to  grow. 

For  animal  food,  of  which  the  natives  eat  but  little,  there  are 
sheep,  goats,  ducks,  and  fowls,  besides  a  little  game,  field-rats, 
and  in  some  parts  the  larvae  of  insects.  The  coast  tribes  make 
considerable  use  of  fish,  prawns,  and,  in  some  parts,  oysters  and 
crabs. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  country  has  to  be  noticed  as  having 
an  immense  negative  influence  on  the  civilisation  of  the  Congo 
tribes ;  the  difficulty  of  attack,  and  the  shelter  to  a  retreating 
party  afforded  by  the  dense  woods  which  cover  large  areas.  '  The 
banks  of  the  river  and  the  inland  country  present  large  woods 
and  grass-grown  spaces  that  can  well  protect  fighting  parties  in 
ambush,  these  can  pass  from  place  to  place  without  being  seen 
by  an  attacking  party,  the  roads  or  tracts  are  narrow  and  must 
be  kept,  otherwise  progress  becomes  difficult  if  not  impossible. 
The  available  springs  of  water  are  few  and  not  easily  found, 
their  quality  is  bad  and  their  extent  limited.  Thus  a  small  tribe 
of  natives  can  easily  retreat  or  scatter,  while  an  attacking  force 
is  placed  at  a  great  disadvantage.  The  inhabited  islands  of  the 
river  are  situated  in  labyrinths  of  creeks,  bordered  by  immense 
swamps  of  mangrove  trees :  the  short  and  shallow  cuts  are  per- 
fectly known  to  the  natives,  while  pursuit  is  impossible.  This 
makes  the  subjection  of  the  natives  to  a  central  power  a  prac- 
tical impossibility;  surprises,  slaughter,  confusion,  and  at  last 
nobody  to  fight  would  be  the  end  of  an  attempt  to  attack  the 
island  tribes  in  their  swampy  retreats. 

No  more  convincing  proof  of  the  futility  of  attack  can  be 
adduced  than  that  afforded  by  an  attack  some  two  years  ago  by 


216  Pi.  C.  PHILLIPS. — The  Lower  Congo  ; 

Portuguese  gunboats  on  a  small  town  named  Katala.  The 
vessels  anchored  opposite  the  village  and  poured  in  a  fire  from 
their  guns  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  rifles  for  fourteen  hours,  the 
natives  not  even  retreating ;  they  scattered  in  the  grass  and 
behind  trees,  and  in  ridicule  returned  the  fire  with  their  flint 
guns,  enlivening  the  proceedings  by  beating  drums  and  making 
hideous  music  on  their  bugles.  Had  the  vessels  landed  a  force, 
a  retreat  of  two  hundred  yards  would  have  been  quite  sufficient 
to  give  all  necessary  shelter  to  the  natives.  The  Portuguese 
recognised  this,  and  after  being  thus  befooled,  weighed  anchor, 
and  departed  amid  the  derision  of  the  natives.  The  result  was 
one  woman  fatally  wounded,  who  was  innocently  watching  the 
approach  of  the  vessels,  when  they  opened  fire  without  a  moment's 
warning.  I  should  like  to  add  that  this  attack  was  not  only 
unjustifiable,  as  have  been  ail  the  attacks  I  have  known  (with 
one  possible  exception)  during  a  sixteen  years'  residence  in  those 
parts,  but  that  no  pretext  whatever  had  been  given  until  the 
town  had  twice  been  attacked  by  bellicose  traders. 

However,  I  now  refer  to  the  affair  to  emphasise  the  statement 
that  the  natives  are  shielded  from  attack  by  their  surroundings, 
and  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  most  people  would  imagine. 
Higher  up  the  river,  this  protection  by  swamps  and  woods 
ceases. 

Bearing  then  in  mind  that  the  external  factors  are  generally 
adverse  to  progress,  we  will  now  consider  the  natives  physically, 
and  then  turn  our  attention  to  the  internal,  or  mental  factors 
which  must  be  understood  in  order  to  form  a  just  estimate  of 
the  Fiote,  as  they  call  themselves. 

No  systematic  measurements'  of  natives  have  ever  been 
made,  but  they  appear  to  be  of  a  rather  low  stature,  broad  and 
muscular,  with  slightly  larger  viscera  than  the  European. 

There  is,  however,  much  difference  in  tribes  in  various  parts, 
the  apparently  best  nourished  being  the  island  tribes,  called 
Misorongo,  between  Banana  and  Ponta  de  Lenha,  and  those  of 
the  south  bank  of  the  river;  next  come  the  Loango  and  the 
littoral  Kabindas,  then  the  river  natives  from  Ponta  de  Lenha 
upwards,  and  lastly  the  coast  tribes  south  of  the  river,  com- 
prising Mukula,  Ambrizette,  and  Kinsembo.  The  appearance  of 
these  latter  tribes  seems  to  have  degenerated  of  late  years 
through  repeated  famines,  they  are  much  more  miserable  in 
appearance  than  formerly,  being  now  wasted  and  lacking  muscle 
in  a  high  degree.  The  difference  is  marked  between  the 
Misorongo  below  Ponta  de  Lenha  and  the  natives  of  Kabinda 

1  It  appears  that  Dr.  Falkenstein  has  made  many  such  measurements,  but  the 
results  are  not  yet  generally  known. 


a  Sociological  Study.  217 

origin  above  that  place,  a  difference  for  which  it  is  difficult  to 
account,  but  which  may  perhaps  to  some  extent  be  due  to  the 
greater  amount  of  fish  caught  in  the  lower  part  of  the  river,  and 
the  more  extended  cultivation  of  the  more  secure  islands.  A 
curious  feature  of  these  Misorongo  is  the  peculiar  womanly 
cast  of  features  when  the  body  is  covered  with  a  shawl,  it  is 
often  hard  to  distinguish  the  sex  of  the  individual  in  the  absence 
of  hair  on  the  face,  as  often  happens.  Strange  that  the  most 
turbulent  of  the  Congo  tribes  should  have  such  a  feminine 
appearance ! 

As  for  the  bodily  proportions,  the  arms  a.re  somewhat  longer 
in  proportion  to  the  legs  than  in  the  European  races,  the  legs 
showing  a  falling  off  from  the  acknowledged  standard.  The 
natives  seem  to  show  in  some  respects  a  greater  strength  than 
civilised  races,  and  in  other  respects  the  reverse ;  this  anomaly 
may  perhaps  be  explained  by  the  following  considerations : — 
The  natives  excel  in  carrying  weights,  which  the  civilised  man 
drops  through  pain,  not  through  weight;  a  hammock  carried  on  a 
pole  over  the  shoulder  soon  becomes  unbearable  to  us  if  no  pad 
be  used,  through  the  cutting  into  the  shoulder,  not  from  the 
weight  itself ;  were  the  load  more  comfortably  distributed  we 
might  carry  it  as  easily  as  the  native ;  it  is  insensibility  to  pain, 
not  extra  strength,  that  enables  the  native  to  bear  such  loads 
with  ease.  Again,  take  endurance  in  walking.  The  native  is  in 
his  fitting  climate,  and  is  doing  what  he  does  every  day,  but  the 
European,  besides  the  disadvantage  of  disuse,  has  to  support  an 
almost  intolerable  degree  of  heat,  which  deranges  the  power  of 
endurance  more  than  the  muscular  exertion. 

In  a  fair  trial  of  strength  the  European  would  probably  show 
a  decided  superiority. 

Strength  and  endurance  depend  not  alone  on  the  development 
of  the  muscular  system,  requisite  though  that  is,  but  on  the 
state  of  the  nervous  system,  which  supplies  the  force  that  works 
the  muscles.  The  view  that  the  nervous  system  is  wanting  in 
development  explains  the  phenomena  we  find,  and  the  general 
insensibility  to  pain,  the  indifference  to  heat  and  cold,  and  the 
absence  of  shock  after  severe  injuries,  all  probably  depend  on  the 
same  reason. 

Whether  insensibility  to  heat  and  cold,  and  immunity  from 
their  effects  go  together,  I  cannot  say,  but  it  is  certain  that 
no  European  could  endure  the  extremes  that  the  native  bears 
with  indifference. 

Fevers,  which  are  dangerous  to  the  European,  are  much  more 
easily  thrown  off  by  the  native  without  the  use  of  special 
medicine  ;  they  go  away  and  do  not  return,  which  is  seldom  the 
case  witli  the  European. 


218  R.  C.  PHILLIPS. — The  Lower  Congo  ; 

The  digestive  system  of  the  natives  is  larger  than  that  of  the 
civilised :  they  can  eat  enormous  quantities  of  food  at  a  meal 
without  inconvenience,  and  then  fast  or  take  but  little  nourish- 
ment for  a  long  period.  Their  fat-deposits  appear  to  respond  at 
once  to  the  requirements  of  the  body,  fluctuating  according  to 
the  amount  lately  eaten.  This  physical  peculiarity  is  necessi- 
tated by  the  conditions  of  existence ;  death  would  soon  result 
were  the  system  to  require  a  proper  amount  of  food  at  stated 
intervals,  as  the  food  would  often  not  be  obtainable.  The  feast- 
and-famine  existence  to  which  uncivilised  races  are  subject, 
makes  the  corresponding  bodily  peculiarity  common  to  savages 
in  general.  Monteiro,  an  accurate  observer,  considers  these 
races  as  probably  a  degenerated  remnant  of  higher  developed 
forefathers,  and  in  this  view  I  coincide ;  evidence  in  favour  of 
this  view  will  be  forthcoming  later  on. 

Turning  now  to  the  emotional  nature  of  the  natives,  we  find  a 
manifest  inferiority.  Their  feelings,  prompting  action,  are 
characterised  by  impulsiveness,  as  in  the  youth  and  the  lower 
orders  of  the  civilised;  though  usually  serious  they  are  easily 
roused  to  laughter  by  anything  ridiculous.  I  have  seen  questions 
of  apparently  a  serious  nature  laughed  off  by  some  comical 
remark;  though  friendly  disposed  towards  each  other  they 
quarrel  about  the  veriest  trifles,  a  handful  of  peppers,  or  a  leaf 
of  tobacco  often  originating  a  fierce  dispute. 

Tell  them  that  it  is  childish  to  quarrel  about  such  trifles,  and 
they  will  probably  look  foolish  and  laugh  over  the  affair.  Fond 
of  their  wives  and  children,  they  still  abuse  them  for  trifles,  or 
get  the  crotchet  into  their  heads  that  some  near  relative  is 
bewitching  them,  and  forthwith  destroy  them  with  the  poison 
ordeal. 

Their  property  they  use  in  the  same  impulsive  fashion ;  after 
haggling  half  a  day  for  a  trifle,  they  will  give  away  more  than 
the  value  of  the  disputed  article.  While  demanding  heavy 
damages  for  the  most  trifling  aggression,  they  will  almost  ruin 
themselves  with  liberality  rather  than  be  thought  mean. 
Stinginess  is  the  black  man's  abomination,  as  it  is  of  our  school- 
children. 

Eeliance  on  the  capable  man  is  a  very  prominent  trait  in 
their  character,  as  with  females  and  the  lower  orders  at  home ; 
a  master  of  slaves,  or  the  father  of  a  family  may  be  very 
exacting  towards  his  dependents,  yet  they  will  support  him 
devotedly  if  only  he  can  protect  them  from  outside  annoyance. 
The  lenient  man  is  looked  on  with  suspicion ;  they  fear  he  has 
not  spirit  enough  to  properly  resent  aggressions,  and  their 
loyalty  diminishes.  The  Fiote  are  thievish,  but,  as  a  rule, 
confine  their  depredations  to  objects  of  little  value,  or  such  as 


a  Sociological  Study.  219 

they  think  will  not  be  missed.  They  do  not  wish  to  injure 
foreigners,  but  steal  general  goods  when  opportunity  offers, 
thinking  that  the  white  man  has  plenty  more,  and  will  not  miss 
a  small  quantity.  The  proprietary  sentiment  is  but  little 
developed,  the  native,  after  accumulating  a  small  stock  of 
goods,  is  quite  content  to  spend  his  time  in  idleness  until  his 
stock  runs  short,  and  want  compels  him  to  renew  his  labours. 

The  natives  will  seldom  undertake  labour  unless  the  returns 
will  be  speedy.  The  planting  of  trees  that  require  much  time 
to  mature,  or  any  other  labour  whose  outcome  is  not  speedy,  is 
seldom  undertaken  ;  this  is  by  no  means  entirely  due  to  listless- 
ness,  but  to  the  fear,  often  well  grounded,  that  they  may  not 
reap  the  result  of  their  labours.  They  may  be  dispossessed 
by  a  stronger  man,  they  may,  meanwhile,  have  to  migrate  to 
some  distant  part,  or  they  may  die  in  the  meantime.  Custom, 
again,  plays  a  great  part  in  determining  the  actions  of  the 
natives ;  they  do  not  like  to  be  eccentric,  and  what  is  customary 
becomes  a  law  for  all.  Thus  are  perpetuated  the  uncomfortable 
•  fashions  of  tattooing  the  body,  the  wearing  of  heavy  brass 
rings  round  the  ankles,  the  filing  or  knocking  out  of  teeth, 
circumcision,  the  going  bare-foot,  &c. 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  the  phrase  "  sack-cloth  and  ashes  " 
in  connection  with  the  funeral  rites  of  some  eastern  nations,  that 
we  seldom  think  of  it  as  a  filthy,  disgusting  mode  of  expressing 
sorrow.  The  Congo  custom  is  almost  identical ;  the  natives  rub 
themselves  in  the  soil  and  wear  their  dirtiest  garments  for  several 
days  after  the  death  of  a  relative,  presenting  a  shockingly  dirty 
figure.  One  has  to  think  it  strange  that  they  cannot  mourn  in  a 
more  cleanly  fashion,  but  such  is  the  custom,  and  no  one  can 
change  it.  If  a  trader  perform  a  friendly  service  a  few  times 
for  a  native,  it  becomes  looked  on  as  a  custom,  and  is  forthwith 
expected  as  a  right.  Small  need  to  say  that  gratitude  is  very 
rarely  exhibited  by  the  natives,  when  every  favour,  is  so  soon 
looked  on  as  a  matter  of  course. 

The  Fiote  are  untiring  beggars,  even  amongst  themselves,  and 
on  obtaining  what  they  ask,  they  go  away  without  saying  "thank 
you." 

Hospitality  is  well  developed  among  the  better  classes,  and 
the  parting  guest  always  expects  a  present. 

Parental  affection  is  better  developed  than  might  be  expected 
among  races  where  descent  is  reckoned  through  females.  Where 
relationship  of  father  and  son  is  fully  known  or  firmly  believed 
in,  fathers  are  affectionate  to  their  children,  and  mothers 
uniformly  so.  Conversely,  children  are  respectful  and  obedient 
to  their  parents,  allowing  always  a  certain  amount  of  latitude 
for  boyish  wilfulness. 


220  E.  C.  PHILLIPS.— The  Lower  Congo ; 

Although  I  have  considered  the  emotional  nature  low,  there  is 
a  remarkable  exception,  the  sentiment  of  public  justice.  In  any 
dealings  with  the  natives,  if  a  European  suffer  aggression,  and 
can  clearly  prove  that  such  is  the  case,  he  is  certainly  adjudged 
to  be  in  the  right,  and  the  offender  condemned  to  a  penalty 
which  is  assessed  by  the  natives  and  the  European :  and  further, 
if  a  chief  promise  that  such  and  such  a  fine  shall  be  paid,  his 
word  is  in  all  cases  sufficient.  I  have  never  known  an  instance 
where  this  statement  fails,  and  the  fact  is  the  more  remarkable 
as  the  chiefs  present  are  not  one  whit  better  than  the  culprit, 
nor  are  the  other  natives  who  join  in  condemning  him.  How 
this  extraordinary  trait  could  have  been  evolved  during  a  de- 
velopment from  a  lower  form  than  the  present,  I  am  at  a  loss 
to  understand  ;  it  seems  more  likely  to  be  an  outstanding 
remnant  of  a  higher  state,  of  which  we  find  other  vestiges. 

In  intellect  we  find  the  same  stunted  development  as  with 
the  emotions;  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect,  in  all  but  the 
most  patent  and  mechanical  of  cases,  being  beyond  their  grasp. 
Here  again,  custom  rules  ;  just  as  many  a  school-boy  performs 
operations  with  fractions  thus  and  thus  because  he  has  been  told 
to  do  so,  and  believes  the  answer  will  be  right  because  it  is  the 
rule,  so  the  natives  attribute  known  effects  to  the  most  inade- 
quate causes,  inadequate  both  quantitatively  and  qualitatively. 

Let  us  take  a  case.  Some  years  ago,  the  chigoes,  or  bur- 
rowing fleas,  were  imported  from  Brazil ;  let  us  ask  a  Kabinda 
what  is  said  as  to  their  origin. 

He  will  probably  say  they  have  come  because  the  King  of 
Kabinda  is  not  yet  buried  (a  man  who  died  forty  or  fifty  years 
ago),  and  nothing  will  persuade  him  to  the  contrary.  You  may 
point  out  that  in  Loango,  where  the  king  is  still  alive  the 
chigoes  are  just  as  bad,  or  that  they  are  as  troublesome  in 
Ambriz,  where  the  Portuguese  hold  the  land  ;  nothing  will  alter 
his  belief. 

Again,  a  certain  drought  in  Landana  was  attributed  to  the 
missionaries  wearing  a  certain  kind  of  cap  during  service :  the 
natives  said  that  this  stopped  the  rain,  a  great  outcry  that  the 
missionaries  must  leave  the  country  was  raised,  and  things 
looked  really  threatening.  The  missionaries  showed  the  native 
princes  their  garden,  that  their  cultivation  was  being  ruined  for 
want  of  water,  and  asked  if  it  was  probable  that  they  would 
spoil  their  own  crops ;  the  natives  remained  unconvinced,  and 
only  when  the  rains  at  length  fell  plentifully  did  the  excitement 
subside.  The  capacity  for  the  lower  intellectual  acts  of  perception, 
recognition,  memory,  &c.,  is  well  developed,  and  appears  early  in 
childhood  ;  in  this  respect  the  natives  are  much  on  a  par  with 
the  civilised  races,  but  the  limit  is  reached  early  in  life,  and 


a  Sociological  Study.  221 

but  little   mental   progress   is  observable  after  adolescence  is 
reached. 

The  ideas  are  mostly  of  the  simpler  forms,  seldom  passing  the 
concretes  of  actual  experience,  generalisations  being,  as  a  rule 
beyond  their  power. 

Association  of  ideas  though  good  as  implied  by  good  memory, 
only  takes  place  in  the  concrete  form  of  contiguity  in  time  and 
space  as  actually  already  perceived  ;  analogies  are  confined  to 
the  crudest  forms,  and  a  very  simple  figure  of  speech  is  apt  to 
be  unintelligible.  Although  the  majority  can  fairly  well  explain 
their  ideas  in  Fiote  or  Portuguese,  yet  an  attempt  at  literal 
translation  is  soon  given  up  in  despair ;  a  simple  thing  like  the 
conjugation  of  a  verb  in  Fiote,  when  the  Portuguese  is  repeated 
to  them,  being  usually  beyond  their  powers.  They  soon  com- 
plain of  headache,  and  call  to  their  companions  to  assist  them. 
The  fundamental  act  of  intelligence,  the  intuition  of  likeness 
and  unlikeness,  is  very  circumscribed;  and  high  acts  of  intellect 
are  thereby  negatived. 

How  then,  it  may  be  asked,  are  decisions  of  public  justice  to 
be  formed  in  the  absence  of  extended  intelligence?  The  answer 
is,  that  each  case  is  judged  on  its  own  merits,  and  by  the 
recognised  customs  of  the  country.  Moreover,  the  issues  are 
seldom  of  a  complicated  nature,  so  not  much  difficulty  arises  on 
this  score. 

An  accompanying  trait  is  the  absence  of  rational  surprise ;  on 

seeing  something  new  a  vacant  wonder  is  all  that  is  observable, 

and  this  is  very  transient,  and  the  new  experience  is  classified 

as  "  white  man's  fashion."     It  almost  follows  as  a  matter  of 

course  that  there  is  no  curiosity,  no  wish  to  enquire  into  the 

cause  of  a  novel  experience ;  it  never  occurs  to  the  native  that 

there  is  a  cause  of  the  novelty  or  an  explanation  required.     In 

like  manner  there  is  almost  total  absence  of  theorising  about 

natural  phenomena.      It  is  worth  while  to  here  remark   that 

these  traits  in  the  intellectual  and  emotional  nature  constitute 

an  immense  obstacle  to  missionary  effort,  and  no  striking  results 

in  this  direction  can   be   expected;    nay,  the  wonder  is  that 

anything  can  be  done  for  the  elevation  of  the  native. 

Let  us  now  examine  some  of  the  native  ideas,  and  1  think  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  present  are  the  outcome  of  a  forgotten  past 
system,  a  ruinous  heap  showing  where  a  former  editice  had  been 
reared. 

Take  first  the  wizard,  the  ndochi,  as  he  is  called. 
No  theory  of  occult  art  or  magic,  no  diabolical  attributes  will 
enable  us  to  understand  the  native's  ideas  on  this  subject.     The 
only  thing  he  knows,  or  thinks  he  knows,  is  that  the  ill-will 
of  some  people  is  physically  detrimental  to  others. 

VOL.  XVII.  Q 


222  E.  C.  PHILLIPS. — The  Lower  Congo; 

These  people  are  called  ndochi,  translated  wizards  or  witches, 
but  their  power  is  supposed  to  be  a  natural  attribute,  if  we  may 
use  the  term  where  the  natural  and  supernatural  are  not  con- 
trasted. The  anatomical  structure  of  the  ndochi  is  supposed 
to  be  peculiar,  and  his  baneful  influence  is  inborn,  though 
developed  afterwards. 

This  power  may  exist  without  the  knowledge  of  the  possessor, 
and  may  equally  produce  its  evil  effects  without  his  knowledge. 

It  would  appear  also  that  if  any  ordinary  person  only  become 
envious  and  spiteful  enough,  he  may  develop  into  the  ndochi, 
though  formerly  innocent  enough.  Thus  misfortune,  disease, 
and  death  are  generally  attributed  to  the  ill-will  of  some  ndochi, 
and  it  becomes  of  importance  to  detect  and  destroy  these 
dangerous  people.  This  is  done  by  means  of  a  poison  ordeal ; 
the  bark  of  a  leguminous  tree,  called  nkasa,  is  ground  to  powder, 
and  a  given  dose  is  administered  to  the  suspected  person ;  it  has 
three  modes  of  action,  as  an  emetic,  a  purge,  or  a  toxic,  causing 
death  by  coma. 

The  first  of  these  effects  indicates  innocence,  the  others  guilt. 
The  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  this  ordeal  is  capable  of  a  perfectly 
natural  explanation,  but  as  it  is  never  inquired  into  by  the 
native,  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  it  here.  But  again,  the 
tree  is  not  looked  on  as  possessing  supernatural  properties,  but 
simply  as  possessing  this  valuable  property,  just  as  other  trees 
possess  other  valuable  properties.  Prophylactics  are  also  re- 
quired against  the  ndochi ;  these  are  found  in  various  charms,  of 
which  the  natives,  more  especially  the  women,  wear  a  profusion. 
The  charm  may  have  had  its  origin  in  mummy-worship,  as  has 
been  ably  contended,  but  the  black  man  does  not  puzzle  himself 
with  what  does  not  concern  him,  he  only  wears  them,  which  is 
enough  for  his  purpose. 

The  charm,  or  fetish,  has  outgrown  the  limit  of  protecting  the 
wearer  from  the  ndochi  class  ;  there  are  magical  images  for  the 
discovery  of  thieves ;  the  repression  of  drunkenness  and  other 
social  obliquities ;  the  registration  of  oaths  and  contracts.  For 
petty  thief-catching,  a  form  of  ordeal  by  fire  is  in  great  repute. 
These  beliefs,  Spencer  shows,  are  absent  in  the  most  degraded 
tribes  of  savages,  and  do  not  make  their  appearance  until  a 
considerable  development  has  taken  place.  The  disappearance 
of  all  theory,  while  the  forms  remain,  seems  to  indicate  a 
degeneracy  from  a  higher  development.  Indeed,  in  the  absence 
of  a  written  literature,  it  is  probable  that  the  past  of  any  tribe 
of  uncivilized  people  would  reveal,  could  it  be  known,  many 
fluctuations  in  development — sometimes  progressing,  at  other 
times  retrogressing. 

As  to  the  religious  and  theological  ideas  of  the  Fiote,  they 


a  Sociological  Study.  223 

recognise  the  existence  of  Zambi,  the  son  of  Mpungu,  the 
daughter  of  Dezu,  as  a  supreme  being.  Zambi  is  supposed  to 
be  somewhere  in  the  sky,  but  whether  Mpungu  and  Dezu  are 
now  alive  nobody  seems  to  know  or  care. 

Some  of  the  missionaries  consider  this  account  as  inexact, 
their  information  being  that  Zambi  Mpungu  is  one  being  ;  what 
they  make  of  Dezu  I  do  not  exactly  know.  Probably  we  are 
both  right ;  our  information  is  drawn  from  somewhat  different 
sources,  and  the  native  ideas  are  so  uncertain  that  probably  both 
theories  are  held. 

The  one  I  have  adopted  is  perhaps  a  corrupt  form  of  the 
teaching  of  the  old  Catholic  missionaries,  Dezu  being  a  corrup- 
tion of  Deus,  and  the  importance  of  the  Virgin  has  led  to 
the  feminine  form  as  adopted  by  my  informants.  However,  no 
great  importance  would  attach  to  a  correct  rendering  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  as  no  worship  is  paid  in  any  form ;  it  is 
merely  a  piece  of  useless  knowledge,  a  relic  of  former  days. 

During  an  epidemic  of  small  pox,  I  often  heard  say  that 
Zambi  (never  Zambi  Mpungu)  is  a  bad  person,  wanting  to  kill 
everybody. 

It  is  some  little  comfort  to  the  missionaries  that  there  is  no 
complicated  polytheistic  system  to  get  rid  of,  as  that  could  not 
fail  to  greatly  increase  the  difficulty  of  their  labours. 

Some  natives  are  inclined  to  believe  in  a  future  life,  but  lay 
no  stress  on  it.  The  tales  of  ghosts  seem  to  prove  it,  but  on 
the  other  hand  these  ghosts  are  a  malignant  class  of  beings  who 
may  never  have  been  alive  at  all,  and  who  now  lead  a  wretched 
kind  of  existence ;  so  the  hope  is  that  good  people  will  not  have 
this  infliction  after  death,  but  rest  quietly  in  their  graves. 

The  graves  of  kinsfolk  are  not  revisited.  I  at  one  time 
thought  that  this  was  due  to  indifference,  but  now  attribute  it 
to  another  cause.  I  once  offered  a  woman  the  portrait  of  her 
deceased  son,  which  she  refused  to  my  astonishment.  She 
explained  that  she  should  cry  whenever  she  saw  it,  so  she 
preferred  not  to  have  it. 

The  magicians  employed  as  rain-makers,  makers  of  charms, 
and  doctors,  perform  certain  rites  that  seem  to  be  propitiation  of 
superior  powers  or  ghosts ;  but  inquiry  only  confirms  the  view 
that  they  are  shreds  and  patches  remaining  from  a  time  when 
they  really  were  such,  but  from  which  the  significance  has 
departed,  leaving  the  bare  form. 

Let  us  now  pass  on  to  the  consideration  of  the  social  structure, 

first  confining  ourselves  to  those  features  which  have  remained 

practically  unaltered  for  a  long  period,  and  afterwards  tracing 

the  changes  that  have  of  late  years  arisen. 

i  The  foundation  of  the  social  system  is  the  family,  consisting 

Q  2 


224  E.  C.  PHILLIPS.—  The  Lower  Congo  ; 

of  the  head  man  or  patriarch,  his  wives,  family  proper,  depen- 
dents, and  slaves. 

The  dependent  class  consists  of  poor  free  people  who  attach 
themselves  to  the  strong  man  for  protection,  and  in  return 
acknowledge  his  authority.  It  is  necessary  to  belong  in  some 
form  to  some  man  of  influence  and  respect,  or  the  individual  is 
open  to  depredation  on  all  sides  and  obtains  the  support  of  none. 
There  are  also  quasi  slaves,  having  been  delivered  over  by  their 
families  as  hostages  for  debt — for  litigation  between  families 
ultimately  takes  the  form  of  debt — and  as  it  frequently  happens 
that  payment  is  delayed,  or  even  impossible,  these  dependents 
remain  all  their  life  under  the  authority  of  the  new  master. 
Their  condition  is,  however  not  worse  than  before,  and  they  are 
indifferent  as  to  their  ownership.  The  only  claim  on  them  is  a 
part  of  their  earnings,  which  in  any  case  they  would  have  to 
make  over  to  somebody  or  other. 

The  consideration  of  the  slave  class  is  a  convenient  point  at 
which  to  take  up  the  historical  part  of  the  subject,  I  shall 
therefore  proceed  to  relate  their  condition  in  the  slave  trading 
times,  and  point  out  the  changes  which  have  since  taken  place. 
Going  back,  then,  say  thirty  years  or  more,  we  find  the  slave 
trade  in  full  force  ;  the  wealthy  natives  possessing  a  large 
number  of  slaves  strictly  domestic,  and  not  destined  for  sale. 
Besides  these,  they  purchased  such  as  were  brought  from  the 
interior  for  export ;  these  were  procured  by  the  interior  tribes 
in  various  ways,  some  doubtless  by  slaving  raids  on  their  neigh- 
bours, others  made  over  for  debt,  others  again  were  criminals, 
waifs,  and  slaves  of  those  who,  by  misfortune,  or  otherwise,  were 
unable  to  support  them.  The  slave  raids  were  probably  confined 
to  the  interior  tribes,  the  coast  natives  preferring  to  buy  rather 
than  capture  them. 

The  export  slaves  were  of  the  apathetic  nature  of  slaves  as  we 
now  find  them ;  they  were  not  seriously  troubled  at  the  thought 
of  changing  owners,  the  only  dread  being  that  they  were  wanted 
for  food  in  the  country  across  the  water.  This  fear  was  often 
dispelled  by  the  accounts  of  slaves  who  had  been  in  America  or 
Cuba,  and  who  gave  them  accounts  of  a  good  time  in  their  new 
homes. 

The  chief  trade  carried  on  by  the  whites  was  in  slaves,  that 
being  the  most  lucrative  article  of  commerce ;  there  were  large 
barracoons  where  the  export  slaves  awaited  transport ;  the  white 
men  having  their  staff  of  domestic  slaves  to  attend  to  the  well- 
being  of  the  passengers.  I  have  been  acquainted  with  several 
natives  who  were  thus  employed,  who  possessed  a  very  fair 
knowledge  of  medicines  useful  in  the  prevalent  diseases  of  the 
natives.  The  slavers  well  knew  that  more  was  gained  by  letting 


a  Sociological  Study.  225 

the  export  slaves  rest  and  amuse  themselves  than  by  requiring 
them  to  work,  and  besides  this  there  was  little  or  no  work  for 
them  to  do. 

They  thus  lived  a  life  of  unrestraint,  free  from  care,  as  long  as 
it  lasted,  the  hardship  of  the  slave's  life  commencing  with  the 
horrible  middle  passage,  where  they  endured  the  hardships  that 
are  so  well  known.  It  is  a  belief  with  many  that  the  English 
cruisers  made  an  end  of  the  slave  trade :  no  notion  could  be 
more  erroneous,  they  prevented  many  from  arriving  at  their 
destination,  and  by  forcing  the  slavers  to  overcrowd  the  ships 
increased  the  hardships  of  the  remainder,  but  probably  not  one 
slave  the  less  was  exported  in  consequence  of  the  blockade,  but 
probably  more  than  would  have  otherwise  been  required  were 
obtained  to  fill  the  places  of  the  unsuccessful  shipments.  The 
profits  were  such  that  one  successful  run  out  of  five  would 
insure  a  profit,  and  the  comparatively  few  arrivals  in  America 
kept  up  the  demand.  The  death  of  the  slave  trade  was  the 
cessation  of  the  demand  ;  that  and  that  only  prevented  the 
traffic  existing  to-day.  For  there  is  now  no  slave  trade  on  the 
Congo,  it  is  confined  to  the  east  coast,  and  in  a  restricted  form  to 
the  Portuguese  colony  of  Angola.  It  is  the  custom  for  Portuguese 
apologists  to  exclaim  that  there  is  no  slave  trade  in  their 
possessions  ;  well,  we  need  not  quarrel  about  names,  and  it  seems 
best  to  confess  that  there  is  a  relative  gain  to  the  slave  by  being 
in  the  hands  of  a  white  master.  I  can  testify  with  tolerable 
certainty  that  the  life  of  the  slave  is  better  and  more  tolerable 
under  the  civilised  master  than  under  the  native,  and  the  demand, 
if  the  supply  be  not  checked,  is  probably  not  greater  than  the 
surplus  population,  the  natural  increase  of  the  slave  class 
being  sufficient  to  supply  the  demand  without  raids  being 
resorted  to. 

The  native  family  at  the  time  we  have  been  considering,  will 
thus  be  seen  to  be  a  combination  of  considerable  power,  and 
mutual  antagonism  may  well  be  conjectured ;  this  was  to  a  great 
degree  prevented  by  the  marriage  customs.  The  natives  are 
polygamous,  and  the  usual  consequences  followed. 

It  is  a  mistaken  opinion  that  in  a  polygamous  society  most 
men  have  more  than  one  wife :  the  relative  numbers  of  the  sexes 
forbids  the  arrangement  being  extended  to  the  whole  population ; 
really  only  the  wealthier  can  indulge  in  a  plurality  of  wives,  the 
poorer  having  to  be  content  with  one  or  often  with  none. 

Thus  the  heads  of  the  families  were  they  who  for  the  most 
part  had  a  plurality  of  wives,  and  the  marriage  laws  made  it 
forbidden  to  marry  a  relative  either  by  birth  or  by  previous  mar- 
riage :  thus  each  family  became  widely  connected  by  marriage 
with  as  many  other  families  as  the  head  man  had  wives,  and  so 


226  It.  C.  PHILLIPS.— The  Lower  Congo; 

a  vast  network  of  relationship  connected  the  different  families. 
These  families,  sometimes  singly,  sometimes  two  or  more  to- 
gether, formed  the  villages,  or  towns,  as  they  are  generally 
called,  so  the  towns  became  all  more  or  less  related  to  each 
other.  This  prevented  the  constant  broils  which  otherwise 
would  have  surely  taken  place  ;  things  were  settled  sometimes 
with  a  little  fighting  it  is  true,  but  seldom  with  serious  dis- 
turbances. As  superior  authority  there  were  the  kings  who 
presided  over  considerable  districts,  and  sundry  officers  who  had 
charge  of  sub-sections,  these  were  the  Mambukus,  each  having 
his  Kapita,  Mankaka,  and  sundry  other  petty  officers. 

The  whites  were  admitted  to  residence  and  trade  on  payment 
of  blackmail  to  the  neighbouring  chiefs,  and  were  then  con- 
sidered in  most,  if  not  in  all  respects,  entitled  to  the  same 
respect  as  the  free  men  themselves :  they  were  considered  as 
naturalised  inhabitants  of  the  country.  This  blackmail,  in 
return  for  which  the  trader  was  promised  the  friendship  of  the 
surrounding  tribes,  went  and  still  goes  by  the  name  of  customs : 
there  was  a  stipulated  amount  paid  for  establishing  in  the 
dominions  of  a  given  king,  and  so  much  paid  quarterly,  half- 
yearly,  or  yearly  to  the  neighbouring  chiefs  in  each  branch 
establishment  while  open.  Establishments  might  be  transferred 
from  one  trader  to  another,  but  if  abandoned  the  land  reverted 
to  the  natives.  The  tenure  of  land  among  the  natives  was  as 
follows : — The  neighbouring  towns  agreed  among  themselves  as 
to  the  division  of  land  for  planting  or  building,  and  as  such,  the 
head  of  the  town  had  the  authority  to  grant  a  location  to  a  white 
settler,  but  land  was  never  the  private  property  of  any  one 
native.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are  treating,  certain  firms 
located  themselves  in  the  districts  for  the  purpose  of  legitimate 
trade,  and  so  by  the  side  of  the  slavers  there  grew  the  origin  of 
the  commerce  as  it  at  present  exists  :  the  domestic  slaves  of  the 
natives  learned  to  extract  oil  for  export,  to  grow  ground-nuts, 
and  prepare  rubber  and  other  articles  of  commercial  value.  The 
chiefs  provided  them  with  food  and  clothing,  and  claimed  the 
produce  of  their  labour. 

With  the  cessation  of  the  slave  trade,  the  chiefs  became 
poorer,  and  the  whole  of  the  working  population  was  turned  to 
produce  and  to  sell  to  the  whites,  the  more  intelligent  of  the 
slaves  acting  for  their  masters. 

A  class  of  brokers  also  arose,  as  natives  from  a  distance  were 
wishful  to  bring  produce  to  the  factories  for  barter,  in  order  to 
obtain  at  first  hand  the  articles  they  most  needed.  The  general 
population  then  awoke  to  the  fact  that  they  might  as  well  do 
business  on  their  own  account  and  not  entirely  for  their  masters. 
The  chiefs,  growing  always  poorer,  could  at  last  no  longer  pro- 


a  Sociological  Study.  227 

vide  food  and  clothing  for  the  slaves,  who  had  to  shift  for  them- 
selves as  they  best  could.  Their  exertions  became  more  and 
more  on  their  own  account,  and  less  and  less  for  their 
masters,  the  demands  of  the  latter  being  resisted  on  the  very 
reasonable  grounds  that  they  must  first  support  themselves  and 
then  give  a  something  towards  the  support  of  the  masters.  Thus 
the  power  gradually  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  people, 
leaving  ever  less  and  less  to  the  chiefs.  Custom  however,  pre- 
served to  these  the  chief  voices  in  political  matters ;  they  re- 
mained the  body  convening  public  meetings,  and  were"  the  chief 
deliberative  body,  the  populace  usually  confining  themselves  to 
signifying  their  assent  or  the  reverse.  The  whites  retained 
their  status  in  return  for  payment  of  their  customs,  and  had  the 
same  voice  as  before  in  such  questions  as  concerned  them. 

Disputes  with  the  natives  were  generally  easily  settled, 
though  in  rare  cases  the  assistance  of  European  force  has  been 
obtained.  Better  were  it,  had  the  traders  been  given  to  under- 
stand that  no  help  whatever  would  be  given  them,  come  what 
might;  I  have  generally  found  that  reliance  on  governmental 
incerference  has  resulted  in  arrogance  leading  to  disputes  which 
have  ended  in  loss  of  trade  and  expense  and  humiliation  to 
the  traders,  coupled  with  injustice  to  the  natives.  For  the 
natives  have  no  chance  of  making  their  side  of  a  question 
known,  and  are  judged  to  be  in  the  wrong  without  due  reason, 
but  that  does  not  prevent  loss  to  the  trader,  for  the  social  state 
being  disturbed,  trade  is  diverted  to  other  parts,  at  times  for 
considerable  periods. 

Something  should  be  said  on  the  former  piratical  habits  of 
certain  of  the  river  tribes. 

In  the  islands  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  there  are  towns 
which,  from  their  isolated  position,  are  out  of  the  lines  of  trade  : 
in  former  times  they  developed  piratical  habits  to  the  great 
annoyance  and  detriment  of  the  traders  ;  vessels  were  plundered, 
but  no  one  was  killed  unless  they  offered  resistance  to  the 
attacking  parties.  In  consequence  of  this,  some  years  ago,  a 
demonstration  was  made  by  the  English,  which  appears  to  have 
had  a  good  effect — at  any  rate,  I  believe  the  practice  of  piracy 
has  been  altogether  given  up.  I  could,  however,  mention  a  Portu- 
guese trader,  who  maintained  an  attitude  suited  to  those  times, 
as  owner  of  a  large  number  of  domestic  slaves,  who  enjoyed  a 
complete  immunity  from  these  attacks;  and  who,  generally 
ready  to  help  others  in  want  of  assistance,  has  done  more  than 
all  the  European  governments  to  put  down  piracy  in  the  river. 
Some  firms,  fearful  of  ill-repute  at  home,  have  left  themselves 
open  to  these  attacks,  and  suffered  much  loss  through  them,  and 
now  that  the  necessity  has  passed,  they  underrate  the  efforts  of 


228  R  C.  PHILLIPS.— The  Lower  Congo ; 

their  more  daring  neighbours,  and  would  point  to  an  English 
naval  demonstration  as  the  cure  of  the  evil.  These  piracies 
have  long  been  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  a  recurrence  does  not 
seem  at  all  likely. 

Of  late  years  several  missions  have  been  established  in  our 
midst,  and  have  been  pushed  far  higher  up  the  river  than  the 
traders  have  yet  gone ;  their  influence  is  not  very  apparent,  nor 
should  it  be  expected  to  rapidly  show  itself,  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  material  on  which  it  has  to  work. 

The  most  rapid  growth  is  the  tumour,  a  diseased  formation 
tending  to  the  destruction  of  the  body,  so  I  greatly  suspect  it 
will  be  with  the  conversion  of  these  heathens ;  slow,  sound 
progress  is  the  proper  progress,  and  if  that  be  going  on,  as  1 
believe,  it  is  wise  to  be  patient,  and  persevere  in  faith.  Accounts 
reach  me  of  rapid  progress  at  Banza  Mantika,  halfway  up  the 
road  between  Stanley  Pool  and  Matadi,  just  as  ten  years  ago  I 
was  informed  of  rapid  progress  at  Benin  River :  as  this  last  has 
.shown  itself  illusive,  so  I  expect  will  the  former. 

Unpopularity  of  a  chief  may  cause  a  tribe  to  desert  him,  they 
congregating  round  a  mission  station,  but  this  cannot  be  expected 
to  last :  some  necessary  regulation  of  the  missionary's  may  cause 
the  dispersion  of  the  new  converts. 

But  to  say,  as  some  say  or  imply,  that  missionary  effort  is  a 
failure,  I  deem  ignorant  and  presumptuous.  I  think,  however, 
that  they  should  be  more  in  our  midst,  and  not  all  crowd  into 
the  upper  river  where  freight  on  goods  runs  away  with  much 
wealth  that  might  be  much  better  employed. 

The  supporters  of  missions  at  home  think  that  the  coast 
natives  have  been  so  debased  with  the  spirits  sold  them  by  the 
traders,  that  no  effort  can  prevail  to  better  them.  This  is  far 
from  the  actuality  however;  the  traders  would  have  but  a  poor 
chance  of  doing  trade  were  the  coast  tribes  so  bad  as  they  have 
been  represented.  It  may  serve  to  explain  native  habits  and 
manners  to  relate  the  following  incident : — 

Having  an  excellent  cook  who  was  at  times  intemperate,  I 
sent  for  his  chief,  and  after  the  usual  greeting,  addressed  him 
somewhat  as  follows : — "  See  this  cook  of  yours,  everybody 
knows  he  is  the  best  cook  in  the  country,  yet  he  is  becoming  a 
useless  fellow.  1  cannot  get  anything  properly  cooked,  as  I  find 
him  drunk  and  incapable,  instead  of  minding  his  work.  He  has 
already  been  discharged  four  or  five  times  from  this  factory  for 
intemperance,  and  each  time  he  goes  to  town  he  remains  until 
he  has  spent  all  his  cloth  for  mm,  and  then  he  begs  his  in- 
dustrious neighbours  to  feed  him.  He  has  the  mark  of  an 
old  cut  on  his  forehead  where  Senhor  Fulano  hit  him  with  a 
soup-tureen  for  spoiling  the  dinner,  and  if  he  goes  on  in 


a,  Sociological  Study.  229 

this  way  he  will  fall  into  the  river  and  the  crocodiles  will  have 
him. 

"  Now  I  want  you  to  bring  a  fetish  and  knock  it  that  he  shall 
not  drink  any  intoxicating  drink  as  long  as  he  remains  in  my 
service.  I  will  pay  the  cost  of  the  fetish,  but  bring  it  along 
early,  or  this  fellow  will  spoil  my  dinner."  The  chief  replied, 
"  Yes,  sir,  you  are  quite  right,  he  is  a  good-for-nothing  fellow,  he 
is  of  no  use  to  us  in  town,  and  of  no  use  to  the  white  men  :  we 
will  bring  the  fetish  as  you  request,  and  hope  he  will  give  you 
no  further  trouble."  The  fetish  was  brought,  a  nail  was  driven 
in,  and  the  nuisance  put  an  end  to.  As  long  as  the  nail  remains 
in  the  figure,  the  man  believes  that  breaking  the  law  gives  the 
fetish  the  power  to  kill  him,  and  he  therefore  behaves  himself  011 
pain  of  death.  He  could  buy  the  removal  of  the  nail,  but  at 
great  cost,  which  he  cannot  afford,  for  though  it  costs  but 
little  to  put  a  nail  into  a  fetish,  it  is  expensive  to  get  it  out  again. 

An  interesting  relic  of  former  development  is  found  in  the 
Kabinda  class  of  people,  called  Ndunga,  a  set  of  masked  and 
disguised  men,  who  have  license  to  steal  anything  that  they  can 
lay  their  hands  on  without  disclosing  their  identity,  and  who 
may  kill  anyone  who  succeeds  in  identifying  them.  They  were 
formerly  appointed  as  secret  agents  of  the  king  to  gather  in- 
formation, and  to  accuse  powerful  masters  who  were  unjust  to 
their  inferiors.  This  they  could  do  with  safety,  while  preserving 
their  incognito,  and  so  great  was  their  usefulness  that  they  were 
held  justified  in  the  use  of  any  means  to  preserve  their  cha- 
racter. They  dress  in  a  large  cloak  of  leaves  that  falls  from  the 
crown  of  the  head  to  the  feet,  and  wear  a  mask  on  the  top  of  all, 
thus  having  a  gigantic  and  terrible  appearance.  They  disguise 
their  voices  when  speaking  to  outsiders,  so  that  no  one  can  tell 
with  whom  he  is  speaking.  When  returning  to  the  town,  they 
leave  their  cloaks  in  the  bush,  hidden  away  in  a  safe  hiding- 
place.  With  the  rise  of  popular  power,  they  have  had  less  and 
less  work  to  do  :  to-day  they  have  only  left  them  their  privileges 
and  some  connection  with  rain-making.  So  it  too  often  happens, 
institutions  survive  when  the  need  which  called  them  into 
existence  has  disappeared. 

A  few  other  examples  of  native  manners  and  customs  may  be 
of  interest.  I  will  give  one  concerning  inheritance,  which  is 
rather  curious. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  descent  is  reckoned  through 
females,  the  meaning  of  this  may  not  be  clear  to  all.  If  a  man 
die,  the  bulk  of  his  property  goes  to  his  sister's  son,  not  to  his 
son ;  the  reason  being  that  of  the  blood-relationship  of  the 
nephew  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  the  descent  of  the  son  may 
be  questioned. 


230  E.  C.  PHILLIPS. — Tlie  Lower  Congo  ; 

The  nephew  is,  therefore,  looked  on  as  a  nearer  relative  than 
the  son,  and  he  is  the  heir,  and  should  he  die,  more  grief  is  felt 
than  in  the  case  of  the  son. 

A  strange  exception  is  made  when  a  man  marries  a  slave  of 
his  :  the  son  then  ranks  first  in  this  case,  as  the  natives  say  that 
he  is  not  only  presumably  the  next-of-kin  by  birth,  but  also  by 
purchase,  as  the  mother  belonged  to  the  father. 

Did  this  rule  not  hold,  the  son  would  become  his  cousin's 
slave,  which  the  natives  see  would  be  absurd  and  unjust. 

Slaves  can  buy  slaves  for  themselves,  and  often  become  men  of 
importance ;  in  Ambrizette  some  of  the  wealthiest  and  most 
influential  men  are  slaves  without  masters.  The  masters  have 
become  extinct,  and  the  slaves  carry  on  their  trade  without 
hindrance,  having  their  own  towns  and  slaves  just  as  have  the 
free  men.  The  only  difference  observable  is  that  the  slave 
traders  are  not  allowed  to  wear  silk  or  coral,  and  if  they 
become  "  too  saucy  "  as  the  free  men  term  it,  they  are  reminded 
that  such  conduct  is  unbecoming  in  slaves,  and  that  they  ought 
to  be  more  respectful.  They  generally  acknowledge  the  truth  of 
this,  and  fall  into  the  background.  A  keen  lawyer  of  the  place 
once  explained  to  me : — "  You  see  the  pattern  on  that  plate,  you 
cannot  alter  it,  the  white  is  made  white  and  the  black  is  made 
black,  and  no  one  can  change  it.  So  it  is  with  the  slaves,  they 
are  born  so,  and  the  free  people  are  born  free,  and  no  man  can 
make  it  not  so." 

Honesty  is  not  conspicuous,  but  the  following  occurrence  is 
worth  relating: — One  morning  two  strangers  presented  them- 
selves with  a  bag  of  palm  kernels  and  told  me  that  their  chief 
had  been  shot  in  a  quarrel,  but  before  he  died  he  told  one  of 
them  that  he  had  long  owed  me  a  bag  of  palm  kernels  for  goods 
advanced  on  credit,  and  he  was  wishful  to  pay  me. 

The  messenger  had  scarcely  started  when  the  other  joined  him 
with  the  news  that  the  prince  was  dead.  So  they  both  brought 
me  the  news  and  the  payment. 

APPENDIX. 
The  Origin  of  Ordeals. 

The  origin  of  charms,  whether  trivial  objects  worn  by  indi- 
viduals, or  the  more  imposing  magical  images  of  the  Fiote,  has 
received  much  discussion ;  I  need  scarcely  remind  you  that 
much  of  the  first  volume  of  Herbert  Spencer's  "  Sociology  "  is 
devoted  to  this  and  cognate  questions  ;  I  do  not,  however, 
remember  having  seen  any  attempt  to  explain  the  origin  of 
ordeals  by  poison  or  by  fire. 


a  Sociological  Study.  231 

The  belief  in  these  ordeals  is,  or  has  been,  very  widely  dis- 
tributed in  space  and  in  time,  and  it  appears  to  me  that  we  are 
bound  to  seek  its  origin. 

This  is  also  true  of  the  belief  in  the  evil  influence  of  the 
people  known  as  witches,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  uncivilised 
employ  the  term. 

It  appears  safe  to  conclude  that  in  the  normal  conditions  of 
savages,  widely  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  there  must 
have  been  from  time  to  time  circumstances  which  would  lead 
them  to  infer  bewitchment,  and  to  point  to  these  ordeals  as  the 
remedy. 

Can  any  such  cause  be  now  assigned,  or  is  it  lost  for  ever  ?  In 
order  to  raise  this  question,  I  would  submit  the  following  attempt 
at  explanation,  subject  to  the  correction  and  criticism  of  any  who 
may  be  able  to  throw  other  light  on  the  subject. 

In  a  given  body  of  savages,  wherever  situated,  it  will  from 
time  to  time  happen  that  one  is  desirous  of  secretly  destroying 
some  other  of  the  number. 

Open  violence  may  be  inadmissible,  and  the  only  likely 
method  is  to  poison  him. 

Of  poisons  known  to  savages,  all  are  vegetal,  and  not  in  the 
form  of  alkaloids  or  tinctures,  but  in  the  crude  form  of  leaves, 
seeds,  and  bark. 

Many  such  substances  must  be  known  to  savages,  but  other 
difficulties  present  themselves ;  the  poisons  must  not  be  too 
nauseous,  and  their  quantity  requires  regulating  to  avoid  vomit- 
ing on  the  one  hand,  and  a  dose  that  will  only  derange  and  not 
kill  on  the  other.  These  difficulties  are  not  easily  overcome,  and 
such  attempts  to  poison  will  often  fail. 

But  though  success  be  not  easy,  suspicion  will  almost 
inevitably  be  aroused;  two,  three,  or  more  find  themselves 
simultaneously  sick  after  eating  together,  or  they  observe  an 
unaccountable  flavour  with  their  food,  and  they  will  be  sure 
that  someone  has  attempted  to  poison  them.  Circumstantial 
evidence  will  often  indicate  the  culprit ;  he  has  been  seen  lurk- 
ing about  the  cooking-pot ;  he  is  known  to  be  at  enmity  with  his 
fellows,  or  strange  beans  or  bark  are  found  in  his  possession. 

What  is  more  natural  than  for  him  to  be  forced  to  partake  of 
the  same  food  ?  And  will  not  the  others  see  that  he  eats  his  fill, 
if  so  much  be  left  ? 

The  physiological  effect  of  fear,  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  hear,  is 
a  surexcitation  of  the  vagus  nerve,  inhibiting  the  heart's  action, 
and  so  checking  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  Other  conse- 
quences must  follow,  among  which  is  the  stoppage  of  the  flow  of 
saliva,  and  paralysis  of  the  muscular  coats  of  the  stomach. 

For  this  last  reason,  the  culprit  will  be  unable  to  vomit,  and 


232  E.  C.  PHILLIPS.— The  Lower  Congo ; 

the  poison  will  produce  its  full  therapeutic  effect,  be  that  coma, 
drastic  purging,  or  other. 

What  will  strike  the  attention  of  the  spectators  is  the 
peculiarity  that  the  culprit  cannot  vomit,  and  his  confession,  or 
the  independent  knowledge  of  his  guilt  will  lead  them  to  con- 
clude that  poisoners  cannot  vomit  such  and  such  a  poison. 

But  out  of  several  poisons  some  one  or  two  will  produce 
more  marked  emetic  effects  on  people  in  general  than  will 
the  other  drugs  :  these  will  then  be  looked  on  as  excellent  tests 
of  guilt,  the  emetic  effect  proving  innocence,  the  absence  proving 
guilt. 

This  theory,  once  started,  will  not  rest  at  this  stage ;  it  will  be 
concluded  that  the  poisonous  or  non-emetic  effect  is  produced 
not  by  the  previous  action  of  the  individual  of  letting  fall  a 
certain  substance  into  a  pot,  but  by  the  fact  of  the  criminal 
intention. 

Thus  it  would  soon  be  a  current  belief  that  not  only  actual 
poisoners,  but  also  would-be  poisoners,  could  be  discovered  by 
this  ordeal. 

Much  further  growth  is  now  possible.  A  given  person,  feel- 
ing himself  sick,  thinks  he  is  poisoned.  Suspecting  an  enemy, 
he  denounces  him,  and  makes  him  undergo  the  ordeal.  The 
suspected  person  fails  to  vomit,  thereby  showing  that  he  is  at 
any  rate  a  would-be  poisoner,  but  he  persists  to  the  last  that  he 
has  actually  done  nothing  whatever  against  his  neighbour. 
After  his  death,  the  sick  man  recovers.  This  is  often  the  case, 
ailments  far  oftener  disappear  than  end  fatally,  but  for  ignorant 
savages  there  is  nothing  irrational  in  their  coupling  together 
their  recovery  and  the  death  of  their  enemy,  and  thence  arguing 
that  their  illness  was  caused  by  the  enmity. 

Thus  might  spring  the  idea  of  the  ndochi  or  witch,  who  simply 
by  the  fact  of  his  ill-will  causes  sickness  or  misfortune  to  others, 
who  can,  however,  be  tried,  condemned,  and  executed  in  a  safe 
and  convenient  way,  by  poison-ordeal,  with  presumably  little 
chance  of  poisoning  the  wrong  man. 

Is  there  any  collateral  evidence  to  support  this  theory?  I 
think  so ;  the  natives  inform  me  that  the  powdered  bark  is 
easily  swallowed  by  innocent  people,  but  with  difficulty  by 
criminals ;  this  is  probably  in  consequence  of  the  non-secretion 
of  saliva  already  referred  to. 

A  similar  phenomena  is  observable  in  the  Malay  ordeal  of 
chewing  rice ;  the  criminal  cannot  moisten  his  mouthful  but 
spits  it  out  in  a  dry  condition. 

The  ordeal  of  the  hot  knife  affords  further  evidence : — A 
suspected  person  bares  his  leg,  and  after  a  few  magical  rites 
receives  three  slaps  on  the  calf  with  a  hot  knife. 


a  Sociological  Study.  233 

If  the  circulation  of  the  blood  be  stopped  the  heat  of  the  knife 
cannot  get  drafted  away  at  the  same  rate  as  would  otherwise  be 
the  case,  and  the  individual  will  be  burned.  This  ordeal  is  in  high 
repute  to  discover  petty  thieves,  and  probabty  with  justice.  It 
is  suggested  that  the  magician  regulates  the  heat  of  the  knife  to 
burn  whom  he  will,  but  I  have  seen  cases  when  this  was  certainly 
not  the  case ;  the  knife  made  the  man's  horny  hand  smoke  as  lie 
tried  the  temperature  before  applying  the  test  to  each  individual, 
yet  on  one  occasion  he  failed  to  burn  any  out  of  thirteen  youths. 
He  went  away  declaring  them  all  innocent,  which  afterwards 
proved  to  be  the  case.  Yet  so  great  was  the  heat,  that,  although 
not  actually  burned  at  the  moment,  in  two  or  three  days  all  but 
one  had  raw  legs  ! 

Did  the  magician  burn  whom  he  chose,  he  would  make  many 
mistakes  of  omission  or  commission,  and  his  fraud  would  be  of 
short  duration. 

Another  ordeal,  consisting  of  eating  mandioca,  a  staple  food, 
from  the  mouth  of  a  fetish,  causes  the  body  to  swell  up  con- 
siderably ;  if  this  swelling  be  also  a  secondary  effect  of  fear,  we 
may  be  on  the  right  track  to  discover  why  of  old  witches  would 
not  drown.1 

Without  further  speculation  on  these  matters,  I  would  remark 
that  it  is  well  known  to  the  natives  and  to  the  whites  residing 
in  their  midst,  that  these  ordeals  are  usually  successful  in  bring- 
ing many  delinquencies  home  to  their  perpetrators  :  if  this  be 
admitted,  and  not  rejected  without  examination  as  impossible, 
further  research  is  a  duty,  and  a  more  interesting  one  could 
hardly  be  found. 

Description  of  Plate  V. 

Map  of  the  Lower  Congo,  showing  the  position  of  the  various 
localities  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  paper. 

DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  E.  DELMAR  MORGAN,  in  making  some  remarks  on  the  collec- 
tion of  objects  exhibited  from  the  Congo,  before  the  reading  of  the 
paper,  spoke  as  follows  : — 

I  will  endeavour  as  shortly  as  possible  to  give  you  my  impres- 
sions of  the  Congo  and  its  people  as  I  found  them  four  years  ago. 

The  office  of  Administrator  for  the  International  Association 
which  devolved  upon  me  after  the  severe  illness  of  Sir  Frederic 
Goldsmid,  gave  me  opportunities  for  observing  the  natives,  the  more 

1  The  phenomenon  of  swelling  is  exemplified  in  the  Mosaic  ordeal  (Numbers 
v,  21).  1  am  uot  prepared  to  hazard  any  explanation  of  the  other  symptoms 
here  mentioned. 


234  Discussion. 

so  as  the  special  object  of  our  journey  was  to  endeavour  to  bring 
about  a  good  understanding  between  them  and  the  Association. 
At  every  halt  we  made  in  our  progress  up  the  river  it  was  our 
practice  to  invite  the  chief  men  of  every  village  to  a  conference,  or 
what  is  known  in  Africa  as  a  palaver,  to  which  they  invariably 
came  bringing  a  few  gifts  such  as  fowls,  a  goat  or  two,  a  bunch  of 
bananas,  or  some  other  fruit,  and  occasionally  specimens  of  native 
industry.  In  return  we  on  our  side  bestowed  on  them  a  few  yards 
of  cloth,  calico,  or  bright-coloured  handkerchiefs,  blankets,  beads, 
&c.,  together  with  the  blue  flag  of  the  Association  which  they  were 
expected  to  hoist  at  their  villages.  At  these  palavers  I  was  obliged 
to  remain  a  passive  though  interested  spectator,  the  talking  being 
all  done  by  the  Belgian  officer  who  accompanied  us. 

The  natives  are  usually  great  talkers,  emphasizing  their  speech 
by  clicking  the  tongue  or  by  cracking  the  joints  of  their  fingers,  a 
practice  also  followed  by  the  interpreters  employed  by  the  Europeans 
in  their  dealings  with  them.  On  one  occasion  the  audience,  seated 
in  a  circle  round  their  spokesman  repeated  after  him  in  chorus 
the  two  last  syllables  of  each  sentence  or  parenthesis ;  apparently 
their  way  of  signifying  approbation  just  as  we  might  say,  "  Hear, 
hear."  The  effect  of  this  was  to  lend  a  rhythm  to  the  discourse. 
The  orator,  aged  and  experienced,  wore  an  old  military  tunic,  and 
had  a  military  cap  on  his  head,  giving  him  a  droll  appearance, 
and  the  burden  of  his  speech  was  a  review  of  the  intercourse 
between  the  blacks  and  Bulo  Matadi's  (Stanley's)  white  men. 
Next  to  him  sat  a  chief  with  a  necklace  of  leopard's  teeth,  a  bunch 
of  feathers  stuck  on  his  head,  and  brass  armlets.  Many  of  them 
carried  old-fashioned  muskets,  known  as  trade-guns,  the  stocks 
ornamented  with  brass  nails.  But  the  insignia,  of  the  chiefs  on  the 
Lower  Congo  were  more  often  long  staffs  studded  with  brass  nails 
or  with  a  tuft  of  hair  fastened  to  the  handle  ;  a  small  bell  held  in 
the  hand,  and  continually  tinkling  on  the  march,  sometimes  formed 
part  of  the  equipment. 

The  first  natives  I  came  across  on  the  Lower  Congo  were  the 
Mussorongos,  or  Mushirongos,  inhabiting  both  banks  from  the 
mouth  upwards  for  about  60  miles,  as  well  as  the  swampy  islands. 
They  are  fishermen,  but  some  few  may  be  seen  at  work  in  the 
European  factories.  The  Mussorongos  are  well  known  to  the 
officers  of  Her  Majesty's  ships,  and  of  other  vessels  visiting  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  they  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Blue 
Books ;  they  are  physically  a  degenerate  race,  and  have  the  un- 
enviable notoriety  of  being  pirates. 

The  Kabindas  I  first  saw  at  Vivi.  They  come  from  the  coast 
a  little  to  the  north  of  the  Congo,  and  are  paler  skinned  than  the 
negro.  The  Kabindas  too  are  tall,  well  made,  with  good  features, 
the  women  being  graceful  and  occasionally  pretty.  Having  come 
under  the  influence  of  the  Portuguese  they  are  more  intelligent  than 
the  people  farther  inland.  Hence  they  are  useful  as  intermediaries 
between  Europeans  and  the  natives,  though  inferior  to  the  Zanzi- 
baris  trained  in  the  English  missions  on  the  east  coast.  Another 


Discussion.  235 

race  -whom  I  shall  mention  are  the  Krumen  who  were  at  the  time 
of  my  visit  in  the  service  of  the  Association.  Their  home  is  on  the 
west  coast  between  Cape  Palmas  and  Cape  Three  Points,  and  they 
claim  to  be  the  rightful  owners  of  Liberia.  The  Krumen  or 
Kruboys  are  thick  set,  powerful  men  quite  black  in  colour.  They 
hire  themselves  out  to  the  captains  of  trading  steamers,  and  make 
themselves  useful  when  the  white  crews  are  overcome  by  heat  and 
attacks  of  fever. 

Turning  to  the  natives  of  the  Congo  proper — those  on  the  lower 
river  are  a  mixture  of  Bakongos  or  Basongos,  Babwendes,  Batekes, 
and  other  tribes  of  the  upper  districts.  These  are  distinguishable 
from  one  another  by  their  tattoo  marks  and  other  peculiarities,  to 
be  recognized  by  the  experienced  eye.  Their  language  is  the 
Bakongo  dialect  of  the  Piote  tongue  spoken  with  variations  right 
across  Africa  from  east  to  west,  and  generally  known  as  the  "  Bantu," 
a  word  signifying  "people."  Their  dress  in  the  districts  more  acces- 
sible from  the  sea  coast  shows  that  European  intercourse  is  gradually 
changing  their  primitive  habits.  Thus  the  Kabindas  wear  shirts 
and  even  jackets  and  trowsers ;  the  Congo  tribes  a  waistcloth  of 
calico  or  only  of  reeds  or  grass  cloth,  but  the  chiefs  are  beginning 
to  cover  their  shoulders  with  coloured  blankets  or  some  gaudy 
piece  of  stuff,  and  military  coats  are  much  in  fashion.  In  the 
higher  districts  above  Stanley  Pool  the  villagers  wore  hardly  any 
covering,  tlieir  black  skins  being  often  smeared  with  palm  oil  and 
occasionally  dyed  red  or  painted  in  a  grotesque  fashion. 

The  tattoo  marks  of  the  Babwendes  form  a  lozenge  shape  on  the 
forehead,  those  of  the  Batekes  are  arranged  in  lines  on  both  cheeks 
and  on  the  breast.  It  has  been  remarked  by  a  recent  writer  (Dr. 
Chavanne)  that  tattooing  is  regarded  by  the  natives  as  a  protection 
against  their  fetish  or  evil  spirit.  They  have  a  great  love  of  orna- 
ments, brass  rings  worn  on  the  arms  and  legs  being  most  common. 
Some  of  these  rings  are  very  heavy,  and  I  have  seen  women,  so 
heavily  weighted  with  leg  rings  as  to  be  hardly  able  to  walk.  I 
remember  a  queen  of  the  Wavunias  with  a  brass  collar  round  her 
neck  weighing  from  16  to  20  Ibs.,  and  compelling  her  every  now 
and  then  to  lie  down  and  rest,  these  ornaments  being  permanently 
fixed  on,  so  that  the  expression  "//  faut  snffrir pour  etre  belle"  applies 
among  African  women  as  well  as  among  their  European  sisters.  I 
do  not  know  whether  they  are  taken  off  after  death.  Beads  are 
much  prized  by  this  people,  so  much  so  as  to  be  the  currency  in 
some  parts  of  the  country.  Strings  of  beads  form  the  only  dress 
of  girls  and  infants,  the  colours  varying  in  different  districts. 
Earrings  are  always  worn,  and  among  men  the  custom  of  piercing 
the  cartilage  of  the  nose  and  inserting  a  piece  of  bone  is  common. 
But  one  of  the  most  striking  peculiarities  is  the  mode  of  dressing 
the  hair  in  large  chignons  standing  out  from  the  head  and  well 
oiled. 

Their  diet  is  chiefly  a  vegetable  one — the  cassava  or  manioc 
being  the  staple  food.  They  also  eat  bananas  and  other  fruits. 
The  men  file  the  front  teeth  to  a  point  which  adds  considerably  to 


236  Discussion. 

\ 

their  savage  appearance.  Their  voices  are  rough  and  uncontrolled, 
and  are  singularly  harsh  and  unpleasing  to  the  ear.  Their  arms 
are  long  in  proportion  to  their  bodies,  enabling  them  to  climb  the 
tall  stems  of  the  palms  like  apes.  It  is  curious  to  watch  the  wav  in 
which  they  collect  the  palm  wine  or  malafu.  A  wyth  is  passed 
round  the  tree  and  the  body  of  the  man,  the  ends  being  tied  in  a 
knot.  Placing  his  feet  against  the  tree  and  supported  bv  the  wyth 
the  man  ascends  with  remarkable  ease  and  celerity  to  where  the 
gourds  are  fastened,  some  20  or  30  feet  above  the  ground,  when 
he  pours  the  contents  of  the  gourd  into  another  taken  up  with  him 
for  that  purpose  and  descends  in  the  same  agile  way. 

The  religion  of  the  people  of  the  Congo  is  a  low  fetishism  accom- 
panied by  all  kinds  of  superstitions,  and  amongst  others  ancestral 
worship.  On  the  graves  of  their  chiefs  are  placed  bits  of  broken 
pottery  and  little  figures  rudely  carved,  and  it  is  customary  to  bury 
with  the  chief  the  cloth  acquired  by  him  during  his  life.  In 
Bonny,  on  the  Niger,  I  saw  the  "juju"  house,  with  its  rows  of 
skulls  and  other  sacrificial  offerings,  but  this  was  reported  to  be  no 
longer  used  as  a  place  of  worship,  and  the  priest  had  ceased  to 
officiate  at  Old  Kalaba  (Calabar),  the  juju  house  had  been  destroyed 
through  the  influence  of  the  missionaries,  though  fetishism  was 
said  to  be  secretly  practised  and  the  bodies  of  human  victims 
offered  up  in  sacrifice  frequently  floated  down  the  river.  The 
barbarous  superstition  which  led  to  the  extermination  of  twins  had 
also  been  stopped  by  the  efforts  of  the  same  missionaries.  But 
these  and  many  other  barbarities  are  said  to  be  practised  on  the 
Upper  Congo  to  this  day.  Nor  have  the  natives  on  the  lower  river 
advanced  much  in  civilisation.  Commerce  has  indeed  taught  them 
to  value  the  white  man's  fire-water,  his  guns,  his  cloth,  and  his 
baubles;  they  are  to  some  extent  restrained  by  the  fear  of  their 
mysterious  visitor,  but  they  cannot  understand  his  motives  for 
living  among  them,  nor  can  they  appreciate  the  advantages  they  may 
derive  from  his  presence.  It  will  take  generations  of  patient 
missionaries  wholly  devoted  to  the  task  to  open  a  brighter  future 
to  the  black  races  of  the  Congo. 

Major-General  Sir  FREDERIC  GOLDSMID,  referring  to  the  imple- 
ments and  weapons  of  war,  musical  instruments,  articles  of  wearing 
apparel,  tusks  and  hides  of  animals,  and  other  specimens  from  the 
Congo,  or  West  Coast  of  Africa,  exhibited  by  him  that  evening, 
stated  that  they  had  been,  for  the  greater  part,  received  by  him 
since  his  return  to  England  in  1883.  from  Dr.  Ralph  Leslie,  who, 
together  with  Mr.  Delmar  Morgan,  had  accompanied  him  on  his 
expedition  in  that  year.  These  gentlemen  had,  however,  remained 
in  Africa  when  he  himself  had  been  compelled,  through  ill-health, 
to  embark  for  Europe.  As  a  rule,  a  ticket  was  attached  to  each 
specimen,  explanatory  of  its  purpose.  Sir  Frederic  Goldsmid  ad- 
dressed a  question  to  Mr.  Phillips  as  to  the  longevity  of  the  natives 
of  the  Lower  Congo.  He  hitnself  had  been  struck  by  the  few  old 
people  he  had  seen  there.  Indeed,  he  had  felt  that  he  was  not  only 
old  enough  to  be  father  of  most  people  he  met,  but  in  many 


List  of  Presents.  237 

instances  the  grandfather.  It  might  have  been  morbid  sensitive- 
ness on  his  part,  but  he  believed  that  few  people  in  those  regions 
did  attain  old  age,  and  the  fact,  if  such  it  were,  seemed  sufficiently 
important  for  record,  in  reference  to  climate,  mode  of  life,  &c. 

The  AUTHOR,  in  reply  to  Sir  F.  Goldsmid,  said  that  the  natives  of 
the  Congo  seldom  attain  a  great  age,  but  he  could  not  definitely 
say  why.  In  answer  to  another  inquiry  he  stated  that  combs,  of 
which  one  was  exhibited,  were  not  worn  as  ornaments,  but  were 
used  for  combing  the  hair  by  both  men  and  women.  The  use  of 
a  "  medicine-bag  "  seemed  a  mystery,  until  he  explained  that  it 
was  to  be  worn  round  the  arm  as  a  charm. 


NOVEMBER  22ND,  1887. 

Prof.  FLOWER,  C.B.,  F.B.S.,  Vice-President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  signed. 

The   election   of  Miss  HUDSON,  of  71,  Lancaster  Gate,  W., 
was  announced. 

The  following  presents  received  since  the  last  meeting  were 
announced,  and  thanks  voted  to  the  respective  donors  : — 

FOE  THE  LIBRARY. 

From  A.  W.  FRANKS,  Esq.,  M.A'.,  F.R.S. — British  Museum  ;  State- 
ment of  the  progress  and  acquisitions  made  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  British  and  Mediaeval  Antiquities  and  Ethnography 
in  the  year  1886. 

From  the  SUPERINTENDENT,  GOVERNMENT  CENTRAL  MUSEUM,  MADRAS. 
— Administration  Report  for  the  year  1886-87. 

From  the  GOVERNMENT  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. — Results  of  a  Census  of 
the  Colony  of  New  Zealand,  taken  for  the  night  of  the  28tli 
March,  1886. 

From  the  SOCIETY  OF  ANTIQUARIES. — Archseologia.     Yol.  L. 

From  the  ESSEX  FIELD  CLUB. — The  Essex  Naturalist.     No.  10. 

From  the  ACADEMY. —  Kongl.  Vitterhets  Historic  och  Antiqvitets 
Akademiens  Manadsblad.  Nr.  169-171. 

From  the  INSTITUTE. — Proceedings  of  the  Canadian  Institute.  No. 
148. 

From  the  UNIVERSITY. — Mittheilungen  aus  der  Medicinischen . 
Facultat  der  Kaiserlich-Japanischen  Universitiit.  Band  I, 
No.  1. 

—  Journal  of  the  College  of  Science,  Imperial  University,  Japau. 
Vol.  I,  Part  3. 
VOL.  XVII.  R 


238  CANON  TAYLOK.— The  Origin  and 

From  the  SOCIETY. — Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.      Nos.  1825. 

1826. 
Proceedings  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow.     Vol. 

xviii,  1886-87. 

•  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Japan.  Yol.  xv,  Part  2. 

From  the  EDITOR. — Nature.     Nos.  941,  942. 

Science.     Nos.  248,  249. 

—  Photographic  Times.     Nos.  320,  321. 

Revue  d'Anthropologie,  1887.     No.  6. 

L'Homme,  1887.     Nos.  19,  20. 


The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

The  OKIGIN  and  PRIMITIVE  SEAT  of  the  ARYANS. 
By  CANON  ISAAC  TAYLOR,  LL.D.,  Litt.D. 

CONTENTS.1 

1.  History  of  the  Question.   Views  of  Max  Miiller,  Latham,  Geiger,  Fick, 

Pe'nka,  Schrader 238-242 

2.  The  Anthropological  Argument.     The  Aryan  Physical  Type       ..  243-246 

3.  Probable  Direction  of  Migration    ...          ,.          ..          *..          ..  246-248 

4.  Physical  Resemblance  of  Finnic  and  Aryan  Types. .          . .          . .  248-250 

5.  Ancient  Extension  of  the  Finns        . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  251 

6.  The  Cradle  of  the  Aryan  Race           251-252 

7.  Philological    Argument.      Identity  of   Proto-Aryan   and    Proto- 

Finnic  Tongues 253-254 

Grammatical  Identity 254-258 

Identity  of  Verbal  Roots 259-262 

Identity  of  Primitive  Words 262-264 

8.  The  Separation  of  Aryans  and  Finns  ..          ..          ..          ..  265-264 

9.  Linguistic  Evidence  as  to  the  Civilization  at  the  Time   of  the 

Separation '        265-269 

THERE  is  no  problem  connected  with  anthropology,  as  to  which 
in  recent  years,  scientific  opinion  has  undergone  such  a  revolu- 
tion as  the  question  as  to  the  region  in  which  the  Aryan  race 
originated. 

At  the  Manchester  meeting  of  the  British  Association  the 
theory  was  advocated  by  myself  and  Prof.  Sayce.  which  five 
years  ago  would  have  been  universally  scouted,  and  yet  it  was 
received  with  general  assent. 

Within  the  present  century  no  less  than  four  theories  succes- 
sively have  held  the  field. 

Only  thirty-five  years  ago  when  I  went  in  for  my  "little  go"  at 

['  It  should  be  explained  that  the  author,  having  been  abroad  while  this 
paper  was  parsing  through  the  press,  has  not  had  an  opportunity  of  revising  the 
proof. — ED.] 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  239 

Cambridge,  the  worthy  Examiner  before  whom  it  was  my  lot  to 
go  up  for  my  vivd  voce  examination  shared  the  then  common 
belief,  that  the  present  inhabitants  of  Asia  were  descended  from 
Shem,  those  of  Africa  from  Ham,  and  those  of  Europe  from 
Japhet ;  the  linguistic  and  ethnic  diversities  between  Europeans, 
Africans,  and  Asiatics  having  arisen  on  the  plains  of  Shinar,  in 
the  year  2247  B.C.,  as  calculated  by  Archbishop  Ussher. 

This  opinion,  which  at  all  events  possesses  the  charm  of  de- 
finiteiiess,  was  succeeded  by  the  Caucasian  hypothesis  of  Cuvier, 
Blumenbach,  and  Peschel,  which  traced  the  Indo-European  race 
to  Mount  Ararat  or  the  Caucasus,  rather  than  to  the  Tower  of 
Babel,  forgetful  of  the  fact  that  mountain  fastnesses  are  not 
the  cradles  of  races,  but  camps  of  refuge  for  the  remnants  of 
shattered  tribes,  and  that  the  cradles  of  races  are  great  plains, 
rivers,  and  valleys. 

The  Caucasian  hypothesis  was  replaced  by  the  Central  Asian 
theory,  which  has  held  its  ground  almost  to  this  day. 

It  was  advocated  by  Prof.  Sayce  in  his  "Principles  of  Philo- 
logy," published  in  1874,  and  also  in  his  "  Introduction  to  the 
Science  of  Language,"  published  in  1880,  and  was  only  surren- 
dered in  the  third  edition  of  that  book,  published  in  1885,  in 
favour  of  that  which  I  am  about  to  place  before  you.  I  cannot 
be  far  wrong  in  assuming  that  it  is  probably  held  by  some  of 
those  present  in  this  room. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  state  this  theory  in  the  words  of  one 
who  has  done  more  than  any  other  man  to  secure  its  acceptance 
in  this  country. 

Prof.  Max  Muller  states  his  opinion  that  "  before  the  ancestors 
of  the  Indians  and  Iranians  started  for  the  South,  and  the  leaders 
of  the  Greek,  Roman,  Celtic,  Teutonic,  and  Slavonic  colonies 
marched  towards  the  shores  of  Europe,  there  was  a  small  clan 
of  Aryans  settled  probably  on  the  highest  elevation  of  Central 
Asia,  speaking  a  language  not  yet  Sanskrit  or  Greek  or  German, 
but  containing  the  dialectical  germs  of  all."  (Max  Miiller's 
"  Lectures,"  vol.  I,  p.  212). 

The  spot  where  this  small  clan  lived  was,  he  thinks,  "  as  far 
east  as  the  western  slopes  of  the  Belurtag  and  Mustag,  near  the 
sources  of  the  Oxus  and  Jaxartes,  the  highest  elevation  of 
Central  Asia."  (Max  Miiller's  "  Lectures,"  vol.  I,  239). 

This  theory  was  stated  by  Prof.  Sayce  in  his  "Principles 
of  Philology,"  nearly  in  the  same  words.  "  When  the  Aryan 
languages  first  make  their  appearance,  it  is  in  the  highlands  of 
middle  Asia  between  the  sources  of  the  Oxus  and  Jaxartes." 
(Sayce,  "  Principles,"  p.  101). 

The  only  real  ground  for  this  opinion,  was  the  belief  that 
Zend  and  Sanskrit  were  nearer  than  any  other  languages  to  the 

R  2 


240  CANON  TAYLOR. — The  Origin  and 

primitive  Aryan  speech ;  but  now  that  this  opinion  has  yielded 
to  further  investigation,  the  deduction  based  upon  it  falls  also  to 
the  ground. 

The  theory,  however,  has  had  the  support  of  the  greatest 
names  in  the  last  generation  of  scholars.  It  was  held  by  Lassen, 
Bopp,  Pott,  Jacob  Grimm,  and  Prichard,  and  is  still  held  by 
Max  Miiller,  so  no  wonder,  with  such  support,  it  met  with  almost 
unquestioning  acceptance. 

A  solitary  protest  was  raised  by  Dr.  Latham,  who  as  early  as 
1862,  urged  that  it  was  a  mere  assumption,  destitute  of  any 
shadow  of  proof,  and  without  even  a  presumption  in  its  favour. 
He  vainly  challenged  the  production  of  any  evidence  in  its 
support ;  but  his  voice  was  vox  clamantis  in  eremo — he  was  set 
down  as  an  eccentric  dreamer. 

But  at  last  the  tide  of  reaction  set  in.  Benfey  in  1868 
followed  Latham  with  the  philological  argument  that  the  un- 
divided Aryans  knew  nothing  of  the  palm  or  the  tiger,  but  were 
acquainted  with  the  birch  and  the  beech,  the  bear  and  the  wolf, 
which  point  to  the  temperate  zone  of  climate,  and  more  especially 
to  Northern  Europe  as  their  primitive  home  The  beech 
especially,  is  a  lover  of  chalk  soils,  which  1  believe,  are  not 
found  westward  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  Black  Sea  to  the 
Baltic. 

In  1871  Geiger  followed  with  the  further  argument  that  they 
also  were  acquainted  with  the  oak,1  and  also  with  the  character- 
istic northern  cereals,  barley  and  rye,  but  not  with  wheat,  a  more 
southern  grain,  and  that  they  must  have  originated  in  some 
northern  region,  as  they  had  common  names  for  snow  and  ice, 
for  winter  and  spring,  but  not  for  summer  and  autumn.  Their 
summer,  therefore,  must  have  been  short,  and  their  winter  long. 
He  also  followed  Latham  in  the  assertion  that  no  solid  argument 
had  yet  been  advanced  in  favour  of  the  then  accepted  hypothesis 
of  an  eastern  origin. 

Pick,  followed  and  corrected  by  Prof.  Wilkins,  has  also 
shown  that  the  primitive  Aryan  region  was  overgrown  not 
only  by  the  oak,  the  beech,  the  elm,  and  the  birch,  but  also 
by  the  fir  (puka),  the  primitive  name  of  which  was  trans- 
ferred in  India  to  the  betel  nut  palm.2  To  the  fauna  known 
by  the  primitive  Aryans  he  added  the  wolf,  the  stag,  the  elk, 
the  hedgehog,  the  goose,  the  thrush,  the  crane,  the  starling,  the 
salmon,  the  eel,  the  wasp,  and  the  bug.  The  cogency  of  the 

1  The  common  name  for  the  acorn  is  galandi,  "  that  which  falls,"  and  from 
this  are  derived  in  lands  where  there  are  no  oaks  the  word  for  the  testicles — 
g lands. 

2  Proto-Aryan,  puka  /  Greek,  -irsvKri ;  Lithuanian,  pusz-ies ;  Old  High  German, 
fiuk-ta  ;  German,  fich-te  ;  English,  fir;  and  Sanskrit,  puff  a,  the  betel  nut  palm. 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  241 

argument  depending  on  these  names  does  not  rest  on  their  being 
common  to  the  eastern  and  western  Aryans,  but  on  their  use 
by  the  European  Aryans.  It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that 
ancestors  of  the  Kelts  and  the  Slaves  migrated  from  Central 
Asia  to  Europe,  and  acquired  these  common  words  in  Europe 
after  their  separation  from  the  Iranians  and  Indians,  but  before 
their  separation  from  each  other.  The  separation  of  Kelts  and 
Slaves  must  date  from  a  more  remote  period  than  the  separation 
of  Slaves  and  Iranians. 

The  undivided  Aryan  race  must  have  lived  near  a  sea,  where 
the  lobster,  the  seal  and  the  oyster  were  found,  and  they  possessed 
some  kind  of  boats  or  ships.  They  also  had  wheeled  carriages, 
implying  that  they  came  not  from  a  mountainous  region,  but 
from  a  plain,  an  inference  confirmed  by  the  conclusion,  which 
however,  Prof.  Wilkins  doubts,  that  they  had  invented  some 
rude  kind  of  plough. 

These  conditions  limit  us,  in  seeking  for  the  cradle  of  the 
Aryan  race,  to  some  well-wooded  northern  plain  near  the  sea, 
and  west  of  a  line  from  Riga  or  Konigsberg  to  the  Black  Sea  ;  or 
if  we  include  in  the  primitive  Aryan  fauna  the  eel,  the  salmon, 
and  the  oyster,  we  shall  have  to  place  them  as  far  west  as  the 
Elbe. 

A  northern  origin  seems  then  to  be  certain,  but  why  not 
bring  them  from  Northern  Asia  instead  of  Northern  Europe  ? 

The  answer  is  that  the  Aryan  words  common  to  the  whole 
race,  such  as  the  elm,  the  oak,  and  the  beech  point  to  the 
fauna  and  flora  of  Europe,  and  not  of  Asia — certainly  not 
of  Central  Asia ;  while  an  additional  argument  is  that,  as  far 
as  we  know,  there  are  no  Aryans  there,  or  ever  have  been.  The 
neighbourhood  of  Lake  Balkash,  suggested  by  Pietreme'nt,  has 
always  been  the  home  of  Mongolian  races. 

Writers  of  the  new  school  incline  with  singular  unanimity  to. 
a  belief  in  the  European  origin  of  the  Aryans.  Peschel  thinks 
the  primitive  seat  of  the  Aryans  was  somewhere  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Caucasus ;  Benfey  places  it  in  the  plain  of  the 
Volga ;  Friedrich  Miiller  inclines  to  the  south-east  of  Europe ; 
Geiger  to  central  and  western  Germany ;  Cuno  and  Posche  to 
the  central  plain  of  Europe ;  Latham  to  Podolia  or  Volhynia, 
south-east  of  the  Lithuanians.  In  support  of  this  view  Dr. 
Latham  urges  that  since  Lithuanian  is  the  nearest  congener  of 
Sanskrit,  the  original  seat  of  Sanskrit  must  have  been  in  ap- 
proximate contact  with  Lithuanian  ;  that  Lithuanian  is  immobile 
— the  Lithuanians  being  apparently  the  survival  of  a  great 
people  once  stretching  far  to  south  of  its  present  limits — as  far 
indeed  as  the  Danube,  if,  as  seems  probable,  the  ancient  Dacian 
was  a  language  of  the  Lithuanic  class — while  Sanskrit,  in  India, 


242  CANON  TAYLOR. — The  Origin  and 

is  intrusive,  since  at  some  time  it  must  have  been  united  with 
Iranian,  somewhere  in  the  Bactrian  region.  Hence  it  would 
appear  that  the  united  Hindu-Iranian  people  were  a  nornad  tribe 
which  moved  down  the  Volga  from  the  Lithuanian  region,  and 
passed  north  of  the  Caspian  up  the  Ox  us,  which  then  flowed  into 
the  Caspian. 

Again,  Latham-  urges  that  Lithuanian  is  closely  related  to 
Slavonic,  its  geographical  neighbour,  and  Slavonic  again  is  re- 
lated to  Teutonic. 

It  is  more  difficiilt  to  suppose  that  the  Lithuanians,  Slaves,  and 
Germans  migrated  from  the  Oxus,  than  that  the  Hindus  and 
Iranians  migrated  from  the  Volga  to  the  valley  of  the  Oxus. 

It  is  more  probable  that  the  smaller  class  split  off  from  the 
larger,  than  the  larger  from  the  smaller. 

It  is  merely  an  assumption  that  the  human  race  came  from 
the  east.  The  great  antiquity  of  man  in  Europe  is  established. 
Virchow  maintains  that  the  Engis  skull  belongs  to  the  Teutonic 
type,  and  proves  the  very  early  existence  of  a  Teutonic  race  on 
the  Meuse. 

The  migration  of  the  Iranians  is  no  more  difficult  than  that 
of  the  Magyars,  who  are  an  intrusive  tribe  of  nomads  from  Asia, 
having  no  congeners  within  700  miles. 

To  bring  the  Lithuanians,  Slaves,  and  Germans  from  Bactria, 
is  as  absurd  as  it  would  be  to  bring  the  Finns  from  Hungary. 

The  smaller  body  breaks  off  from  the  larger,  which  remains 
in  situ. 

The  question  remained  practically  in  abeyance  from  1871  to 
1883,  the  European  origin  of  the  Aryans  being  held  as  a  sort 
of  pious  opinion  by  half  a  dozen  scholars  who  had  devoted 
special  attention  to  the  subject,  while  the  old  Central  Asian 
hypothesis  still  held  its  ground,  with  the  practical  acquiesence 
of  the  learned  world.  But  in  1883  the  question  received  a  new 
impulse.  In  that  year  two  remarkable  books  were  published, 
Penka's  Origines  Ariac.ce,  a  slashing,  but  somewhat  too  dogmatic 
work,  and  the  cautious  and  more  scholarly  book  of  Dr.  0.  Schrader, 
entitled  Sprachvergleichung  und  Uryeschichte.  Dr.  Schrader,  as 
the  result  of  an  exhaustive  investigation,  comes  to  the  final 
conclusion  "  that  the  European  hypothesis,  that  is,  that  the 
origin  of  the  Indo-European  races  is  to  be  sought  westward 
rather  than  eastward,  appears  to  be  far  more  (weitaus)  in  accor- 
dance with  the  facts." 

These  two  books  drew  general  attention  to  the  subject,  and 
induced  Prof.  Sayce  in  1885  to  surrender  the  Asiatic  hypothesis 
which  he  had  advocated  in  1880,  and  his  conversion  was  ac- 
companied or  followed  by  that  of  other  students,  my  own  I 
confess  among  the  rest. 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  243 

Dr.  Schrader  only  commits  himself  to  the  general  opinion 
that  the  migrations  of  the  Aryans  took  place  southward  and 
eastward,  rather  than  northward  and  westward,  and  in  this  I 
agree  with  him.  Prof.  Penka  is  much  more  definite,  and  he 
tries  to  fix  the  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race,  not  in  Central  Asia,  but 
in  the  Scandinavian  peninsula.  For  reasons  which  will  pre- 
sently appear,  I  do  not  think  this  opinion  tenable;  but  this 
credit  must  be  given  to  Penka,  that  it  was  his  book  followed  by 
another,  Die  Herkunft  der  Arier,  published  in  1886,  which  de- 
molished the  old  hypothesis,  and  that  directed  general  attention 
to  the  subject  which  the  more  scholarly  work  of  Schrader  might 
have  failed  in  effecting. 

Schrader's  book  is  philological,  but  Penka's  argument  is 
anthropological,  rather  than  linguistic.  He  argues  that  most 
of  the  Aryan-speaking  races  are  only  Aryan  by  language,  not 
by  blood.  The  nations  now  speaking  Aryan  languages  exhibit, 
he  says,  several  distinct  ethnological  types.  These  are : — 

1.  The  Scandinavian  and  North  German  type : — Dolicho- 

cephalic, tall,  fair,  with  white  skin,  with  a  Grecian 
nose,  straight  and  fine,  blue  eyes,  blonde,  golden  or 
yellow  hair,  and  abundant  beard.  This,  he  thinks,  is 
the  pure  Aryan  type. 

2.  The  Mediterranean  type  of  Italy  and  Spain : — Brachy- 

cephalic,  short,  dark,  with  black  eyes,  dark  hair.  This, 
he  thinks,  is  Iberic,  and  ultimately  Berber. 

3.  The  Slavonic  type  : — Brachy cephalic,  with  a  short  face, 

short  stumpy  nose,  and  little  beard.  This  is  the  Turko- 
Tatar  or  Ugric  type.  To  this  type  belong  the  lower 
classes  of  Bavaria  and  Southern  Germany,  who  are 
brachycephalic  and  dark,  while  the  upper  classes  are 
dolichocephalic,  tall,  and  fair. 

4.  The  Kelts  are  largely  mixed  ;  some  classes  are  tall  and  red 

haired,  others  short  and  dark. 

5.  The  Iranians  and  Indians,  originally  tall  and  fair,  but 

much  altered  by  climatic  influences. 

It  has  to  be  determined  which  of  these  represents  the  pure 
primitive  Aryan  type. 

Now  there  is  no  question  that  residence  in  a  southern  land,  or  a 
mixture  of  darker  blood,  tends  to  make  a  fair  race  darker  ;  while 
the  converse  is  not  true  ;  residence  in  high  latitudes  or  a  mixture 
of  blue  blood  does  not  make  a  dark  man  fair. 

The  Jews  and  Portuguese  in  India  have  become  almost  black  ; 
the  fair  Goths  of  Spain,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Hindus,  have  become 
darker  than  they  were  ;  whereas  the  polar  races  remain  dark  and 
short ;  a  residence  for  countless  generations  in  the  north  has  not 


244  CANON  TAYLOR. — The  Origin  and 

given  them  the  Aryan  type.  The  Lapps,  the  Ostiaks,  the 
Samoyedes,  the  Eskimo,  the  Eed  Men  of  the  Canadian  Dominion 
prove  that  a  race  may  dwell  innumerable  centuries  in  northern 
climes  without  acquiring  the  fair  hair,  the  blue  eyes,  the  white 
skin,  and  the  tall  stature  of  the  Scandinavians. 

It  is,  therefore,  more  probable  that  a  fair  race  should  have 
become  dark  than  that  a  dark  race  should  have  become  fair. 
There  is  no  instance  known  of  a  dark  race  having  become  fair, 
whereas  there  are  many  instances  of  fair  races  becoming  dark. 
Eace  characters,  where  there  is  no  change  of  climate  or  mixture 
of  blood,  are  very  permanent.  The  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 
monuments  show  that  5,000  years  have  not  essentially  changed 
the  Semitic  or  Negro  type. 

But  change  of  speech  is  more  easy  to  effect  than  change  of 
blood.  Change  of  speech  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception 
in  case  of  conquest.  The  conquered  readily  acquire  the  speech 
of  the  conquerors,  while  the  conquerors,  being  usually  fewer  in 
numbers,  acquire  the  physical  type  of  the  more  numerous  con- 
quered race.  The  exceptions  are  not  numerous.  The  Normans 
in  France  and  England,  the  Lombards  in  Italy,  the  Bulgars  in 
Bulgaria,  have  lost  their  speech ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Negroes  in  the  United  States  and  Jamaica  speak  English,  in  Haiti 
French,  in  Cuba,  Spanish.  In  Peru  and  Mexico,  the  pure- 
blooded  Aztecs  and  Peruvians  speak  Spanish.  Asia  Minor  was 
Hellenized.  Arabic  now  prevails  in  Syria  and  Egypt.  Latin 
spread  over  Gaul  and  Spain.  German  has  replaced  Slavonic 
on  the  Elbe,  Basque  is  retreating  before  French  and  Spanish, 
Bohemian  before  German,  Finnish  before  Eussian,  Welsh  and 
Gaelic  before  English.  The  superior  people  have  a  wonderful 
power  of  imposing  its  language  on  conquered  or  enslaved  races, 
superior  in  mere  numbers  to  themselves.  Change  of  language 
is  far  easier  and  more  frequent  than  the  change  of  race  type. 

Following  out  the  argument,  we  may  conclude  that  the  Lapps 
and  the  Samoyedes  are  probably  an  Eskimo  race  which  has 
acquired  a  Finnic  or  Ugric  speech.  This  is  shown  by  their  short 
stature  and  their  dark  skins  and  hair,  while  the  Irish  of  Donegal 
and  Kerry,  and  the  Welsh  of  South  Wales  are  probably,  as 
shown  by  their  short  heads,  short  stature,  and  dark  hair,  an 
Iberian  race  which  has  acquired  a  Keltic  speech,  just  as  the 
Mahrattas  are  largely  a  Dravidian  race  which  has  learnt  an 
Aryan  speech.  On  such  grounds  Penka  argues  that  the  Eussian 
Slaves  are  tribes  mainly  of  Ugric  blood,  which  have  acquired  an 
Aryan  language,  while  the  Mediterranean  races  are  mainly  of 
Iberian  blood  who  have  learned  the  Aryan  speech  of  their 
pre-historic  conquerors. 

This  argument  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  nobles  in 


Primitive,  Scat  of  the  Aryans.  245 

these  lands,  who  would  be  the  descendants  of  the  conquerors, 
are  fairer  and  taller  than  the  labouring  classes,  who  represent  the 
conquered  race.  This  is  conspicuously  the  case  in  Bavaria  and 
Southern  Germany,  and  also  in  France,  Italy,  Sicily,  Spain, 
Greece,  Scotland,  and  Ireland. 

For  these  reasons  it  seems  probable  that  the  original  Aryan 
people  were  fair  and  tall,  and  that  the  short,  dark  types  of 
Southern  and  Eastern  Europe  are  Aryans  only  in  language 
and  not  in  blood. 

In  addition  to  these  a  priori  arguments,  all  the  historical 
indications  tend  to  show  that  the  original  Aryan  conquerors  of 
southern  lands  were  taller  and  fairer  than  the  races  by  whom 
they  have  been  absorbed,  who  seem  to  have  been  of  Iberian  or 
Berber  blood,  and  to  have  crossed  from  Africa  in  the  time  of 
the  Dolmen  stream. 

Penka  has  collected  from  ancient  authors  many  passages 
tending  to  prove  that  the  Greek  and  Eoman  nobles  had  fair  or 
auburn  hair,  blue  or  grey  eyes,  a  white  skin,  and  tall  stature.  It 
is  thus  that  Homer  pictures  his  gods  and  heroes,  as  in  the  cases 
of  Minerva,  Achilles,  and  Menelaus.  The  same  is  the  case  with 
the  high  caste  Hindus,  who  represent  the  Aryan  conquerors  in 
the  purest  strain ;  they  are  taller  and  fairer  than  the  lower 
castes.  It  was  the  same  with  the  Persian  nobles.  The  purest 
blood  of  the  Hellenes  is  found  among  certain  mountaineers  of 
Crete,  whose  fair  hair  and  blue  eyes  bear  witness  to  their  pure 
Dorian  blood. 

The  Scythian  tribes  of  Herodotus,  who,  according  to  Jacob 
Grimm,  spoke  an  Aryan  language  intermediate  between  Iranian 
and  Slavonic1,  seem  to  have  shared  the  fair  Aryan  type.  More 
especially  the  Budini  of  Herodotus,  who  dwelt  north  of  the 
Black  Sea,  between  the  Don  and  the  Volga,  near  Saratov,  had 
blue  eyes  and  reddish  hair.2 

The  Ossetes  of  the  Caucasus,  who  call  themselves  Iron 
( =  Iranians),  who  are  probably  to  be  identified  with  the  Massa- 
getie  of  Herodotus,  and  the  Alani,  who  dwelt  north  of  the  Cas- 
pian, present  the  Aryan  type.  They  are  of  blonde  complexion, 
with  blue  eyes,  and  yellow  or  red  hair.3 

The  Kurdish  and  Persian  nobles  frequently  have  blue  eyes. 
The  high  caste  Ilajas  of  Rajputana  are  often  fair. 

The  Seres,  the  eastern  neighbours  of  the  Scythians,  are 
described  by  Pliiiy  as  a  tall  race  with  blue  eyes  and  red  hair. 

Classical  writers  have  noted  again  and  again  the  resemblance 
in  physical  type  of  Kelts  and  Germans.  They  were  distinguished 

1  Zeuss,  "  Die  Deut.schen,"  page  294  et  seq. 

2  Bunbury,  "  Anc.  Geog.,"  I,  193, 196. 

3  Diefenbach,  "  Orig.  Eur.,"  page  41. 


246  CANON  TAYLOR. — TJie  Origin  and 

by  their. great  stature,  their  white  skins,  and  their  yellow  or  red 
hair.1  Pliny,  Caesar,  Diodorus,  Strabo,  Silius  Italicus,  Claudian, 
Livy,  Virgil,  and  Ammianus  Marcellinus  describe  the  Gauls 
as  very  tall,  with  white  skins,  fair  or  golden  hair,  and  blue  or 
blue-grey  eyes.2 

Throughout  Southern  Europe,  in  parts  of  Wales  and  Ireland, 
the  blood  is  probably  Iberian,  while  an  Aryan  language  has 
been  acquired  from  Aryan  conquerors.  The  same  process  has 
gone  on  in  the  north. 

Though  the  Lapps  are  certainly  not  of  Finnic  blood,  they 
speak  what  seems  to  be  an  archaic  form  of  the  Finnish  speech  of 
Finland,  while  the  tongue  of  the  Samoyedes  approaches  that  of 
the  Ostiaks  and  other  eastern  Finns,  though  they  cannot  be  classed 
as  either  Finns  or  Ugrians  by  race. 

We  have  another  argument,  not  without  weight,  as  to  the 
probabilities  of  migration. 

There  is  no  assignable  cause  which  can  have  induced  a  race, 
physically  superior  in  stature  and  energy,  inhabiting  the  warm, 
sunny,  fertile  lands  of  Southern  Europe  where  all  the  conditions 
of  life  are  easy,  to  migrate  to  the  inhospitable  regions  of 
Northern  Europe,  with  a  poor  sandy  soil,  and  a  long  winter, 
in  which  the  struggle  for  existence  is  so  hard  ;  whereas  there 
was  every  inducement  for  the  hardy  and  prolific  races  of  the 
north  to  invade  and  conquer  southern  lands. 

The  tendency  to  move  southward  is  exemplified  by  the 
irruption  of  the  northern  nations  into  the  Eoman  Empire,  vast 
hordes  of  Goths,  Burgundians,  Vandals,  Lombards,  Sueves,  and 
Franks,  marching  from  the  Baltic  region  into  the  fertile  lands  of 
Italy,  Gaul,  and  Spain,  where  the  descendants  of  the  fair-haired 
giants  were  gradually  absorbed  among  the  shorter  and  darker 
races  of  those  lands. 

Sidonius  Apollinaris  describes  the  gigantic  Burgundians  of 
Gaul  as  seven  feet  high,  and  that  this  is  not  merely  a  poetical 
licence  is  proved  by  the  huge  skeletons  found  in  the  Burgundian 
graves  of  the  valley  of  the  Rhone. 

The  causes  of  the  physical  superiority  of  the  Aryans  is  easy 
to  understand,  if  we  derive  them  from  Northern  Europe. 

Temperate  Europe  was  the  school  in  which  men  were  trained 
for  work,  and  became  superior  in  physical  and  mental  energy. 

With  the  Polar  races  the  struggle  was  too  difficult,  and  they 
succumbed.  It  was  only  just  possible  to  support  life  ;  there 
was  no  room  for  physical  development  or  for  superior  culture. 

In  high  latitudes  labour  is  only  possible  in  the  short  summer; 
in  low  latitudes  only  in  the  winter.  In  the  temperate  zone 

1  Diefenbach,  "  Orig.  Eur.."  page  198.  2  Ib.,  pages  161,  162. 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  247 

alone  labour  is  possible  all  the  year  round,  and  hence  the 
inhabitants  of  temperate  regions  have  ever  been  distinguished 
by  greater  energy  and  superior  physical  development. 

In  historical  times  the  Baltic  lands  have  been  the  hive  from 
which  the  pure  Aryans  have  swarmed,  and  analogy  leads  us  to 
expect  that  the  same  was  the  case  in  pre-historic  times.  In 
these  lands  men  are  prolific,  while  the  means  of  subsistence  are 
limited.  The  power  of  expansion  of  the  Scandinavian  and 
North  German  races  is  shown  not  only  by  the  swarms  of 
Teutonic  invaders  who  overwhelmed  the  Roman  Empire,  but  by 
the  streams  of  Swedish,  German,  Dutch,  and  English  emigrants 
who  are  now  colonising  North  America,  Australia,  New  Zea- 
land, and  South  Africa,  and  who  hold  in  fee  so  many  tropical 
and  sub-tropical  lands.  We  also  see  that  in  the  south  the  type 
rapidly  dies  out,  or  is  absorbed.  In  India  there  are  no  pure- 
blooded  Englishmen  of  the  third  generation,  whilst  the  Goths 
have  left  little  of  their  blue  blood  in  Spain,  Gaul,  or  Italy. 

Moreover  Sweden  and  Denmark  have  been  always  Aryan  ;  the 
pre-historic  skulls,  whether  of  the  stone,  the  bronze,  or  the  iron 
age,  are  uniform  in  type.  About  10  per  cent,  of  the  pre-historic 
skulls  are  of  the  Lapp  type,  which  may  be  explained  as  a  result 
of  slavery ;  the  rest  belong  to  the  pure  Aryan  type,  which  exists 
at  the  present  day. 

The  first  definite  conclusion  at  which  we  arrive  is,  that  while 
Aryan  languages  are  spoken  by  six  ethnic  types — Scandinavian, 
Slavonic,  Mediterranean,  Keltic,  and  Irano-Indian — the  purest 
of  all  in  blood  is  the  Scandinavian  or  North  German,  and  that 
the  primitive  Aryans  were  of  this  type — a  northern  race,  tall  and 
fair,  with  blonde  complexion,  light  hair,  and  blue  eyes,  who 
conquered  southern,  eastern,  and  some  western  lands,  where, 
though  their  northern  blood  has  been  absorbed  and  obscured  by 
the  more  numerous  races  whom  they  conquered,  they  succeeded 
in  imposing  their  language,  as  is  so  often  the  case  with  a  small 
ruling  class.  Witness  the  spread  of  the  Latin  language,  which 
followed  the  subjugation  of  Spain,  Gaul,  and  Northern  Africa 
by  the  Romans,  or  the  spread  of  the  Greek  language  over  the 
Empire  of  Alexander,  or  the  still  more  remarkable  case  of  the 
Arabic  which  has  everywhere  followed  the  crescent,  and  has 
exterminated  Latin  in  North  Africa,  Greek  in  Asia  Minor,  Coptic 
in  Egypt,  and  which  is  now  rapidly  extending  over  Africa  to 
within  a  few  degrees  of  the  Equator. 

So  far  I  think  we  may  accept  Penka's  argument.  But  it  is 
more  difficult  to  follow  him  in  his  contention  that  Scandinavia 
was  the  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race.  This  seems  rather  to  have 
been  the  great  European  plain  south  of  the  Baltic.  In  such  a 
matter  we  cannot  expect  to  attain  to  certainty,  but  the  balance 


248  CANON  TAYLOR.  —  The  Origin  and 

of  argument  seems  to  lead  to  this  conclusion.  We  have  already 
seen  that  the  linguistic  evidence  tends  to  show  that  the  primitive 
Aryans  inhabited  some  great  plain,  and  not  a  mountainous 
region.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  they  can  have  crossed 
the  Baltic  in  such  vast  numbers,  while  Scandinavia  seems  to 
afford  neither  the  geographical  space,  nor  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence for  their  development.  The  tendency  to  albinism  must 
also  be  explained,  and  the  only  physical  explanation  that  has 
yet  been  advanced  connects  it  with  the  poverty  of  colouring 
material  in  the  barren  sands  of  Northern  Germany,  and  the 
western  provinces  of  Bussia.  Here  we  find  that  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Aryan  race  has  become  so  accentuated  that  the 
hair  is  almost  devoid  of  pigment,  it  is  nearly  white,  and  the 
complexion  is  tallowy.  We  notice  this  tendency  in  some  of  the 
eastern  counties  of  England,  where  the  sandy  soil  is  quite  devoid 
of  iron. 

But  the  chief  objection  to  Penka's  Scandinavian  theory  is 
that  it  proves  too  much.  It  does  not  account  for  the  origin  of  the 
Aryans,  but  rather  assumes  that  the  Aryans  were  always 
Aryans.  Ex,  nihilo  nihil.  The  Aryans  must  have  had  ancestors 
who  were  not  Aryans.  Who  could  those  ancestors  have  been  ? 
Can  we  find  any  survivals  or  vestiges  of  this  race  ? 

My  own  opinion,  arrived  at  independently,  agrees  with  a 
conjecture  which  I  find  was  put  forth  twenty  years  ago  by  two 
great  scholars,  Diefenbach  and  Weske — a  conjecture  which  they 
did  not  attempt  to  substantiate  by  proof,  because  the  materials 
for  proof  had  not  at  that  time  been  collected. 

I  believe  that  in  the  Finns  of  Finland,  and  the  Esthonians 
and  Liefs  of  Courland  and  Livonia,  we  discover,  in  situ,  a 
people  who  can  be  shown,  anthropologically  and  linguistically, 
to  be  the  survivors  of  the  race  from  which  the  Aryans  were 
evolved. 

When  Diefenbach  and  Weske  wrote,  it  was  impossible  to 
establish  their  conjecture.  It  was  necessary  to  await  the  result 
of  much  patient  labour  in  the  analyses  of  the  grammar  and 
vocabulary  of  the  Aryan  and  Turanian  languages — a  result 
which  has  now  been  achieved  by  Fick,  Curtius,  Schrader, 
Budenz,  Donner,  and  Vambery,  who  have  enabled  us  to  recon- 
struct the  elements  of  the  original  languages  spoken  5,000  or 
6,000  years  ago  by  the  ancestors,  on  the  one  hand  of  the  Finns, 
and  on  the  other  of  the  Aryans. 

The  argument  is  two-fold — anthropologic  and  linguistic.  I 
shall  first  endeavour  to  show  that  ethnologically  the  Finns 
proper  are  of  the  same  ethnic  type  as  the  contiguous  Aryans 
of  Northern  Europe.  Penka,  whose  object  is  to  prove  that  the 
Aryans  are  unique  in  physical  type,  endeavours  in  vain  to 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  249 

combat  the  conclusion  of  Virchow,  that  in  all  essential  charac- 
teristics the  Finns  of  Finland  belong  to  the  Aryan  type. 

He  is  driven  to  the  argument  that  the  marked  Aryan  charac- 
teristics of  the  Finns  are  due  to  an  inter-mixture  of  Aryan 
blood,  which  is  contrary  to  all  probability,  since  language 
changes  more  readily  than  race ;  since  with  an  inter-mixture 
of  blood  the  dark,  short  race  is  prepotent,  and  the  mixed  race  is 
dark  ;  while  it  is  most  unlikely  that  the  superior  race  should 
have  been  so  numerous  as  to  have  imparted  its  physical  cha- 
racter without  also  imparting  its  language. 

Geiger  also  says  that  fair  hair,  white  skin,  and  blue  eyes  are 
ethnic  characteristics  confined  to  the  Ayran  race,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Finnic  neighbours  of  the  Aryans.1  He,  like 
Penka,  accounts  for  the  fact  by  an  intermixture  of  Aryan  blood. 
The  Aryan  type  of  the  Finns  is  recognised  fully  by  independent 
authorities  who  have  no  theory  to  support.  Diefenbach  states2 
that  anthropologically  the  Finns  belong  to  the  Aryan  type 
rather  than  to  the  Mongolic  or  Ugric.  The  European  Finns 
he  says,  resemble  the  Aryans  of  Northern  Europe.  The  Finns 
of  Finland  are  fair  and  tall,  with  blue  eyes.  The  Esthonians 
have  blue  eyes  and  yellow  hair,  and  are  dolichocephalic. 

This  was  the  case  in  early  times.  From  the  Edda  we  learn 
that  the  Scandinavians  called  their  Finnic  neighbours  Jotuns, 
or  giants,  proving  that  they  were  of  even  taller  stature  than 
themselves.  The  same  was  the  case  with  the  Slaves,  who  also 
at  a  very  early  period  found  the  Finns  a  taller  race  than  them- 
selves, as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  by  all  the  Slavonic  races 
the  Finns  are  called  Tschuds,  a  name  derived  from  the  Slavonic 
word  tend,  a  giant.3  Virchow,  noting  the  light  hair  and  blonde 
complexion  of  the  Finns,  has  pointed  out  that  the  Finns  are 
not,  as  was  formerly  thought,  brachycephalic,  but  largely  doli- 
chocephalic. Of  the  Esthonians  one-third  are  of  the  blonde 
dolichocephalic  type,  and  two-thirds  are  mesocephalic,  with 
light  brown  or  darker  hair.  The  cranial  index  of  the  Finns 
is  78-59  ;  of  the  Tschuds,  83'37 ;  of  the  Magyars,  82*2. 

According  to  Diefenbach,  as  we  go  eastward  the  races  speak- 
ing languages  of  the  Finnic  family  diverge  more  and  more  from 
the  Finnic  type.  The  blonde  hair  becomes  red,  and  the  skin 
and  eyes  become  darker.  Thus  while  the  Wotiaks,  Mordwins, 
and  Tscheremis  have  red  hair  more  frequently  than  brown, 
and  some  Ostiaks  have  reddish  hair,  the  Woguls  and  eastern 
Ostiaks  are  darker  both  in  skin  and  hair.4  The  Ostiaks  on  the 
Obi,  Diefenbach  thinks,5  though  speaking  a  Finnic  tongue, 

1  Penka,  "  Orig.  Ar.,"  page  30. 
2  Diefenbach,  "  Orig.  Europ.,"  page  213. 

3   Ujfalvy,  "  Melanges,"  page  120. 
4  Diefenbach,  "Orig.  Europ.,"  page  213.  *  II,,  pnge209. 


250  CANON  TAYLOR. — The  Origin  and 

cannot  be  considered  as  pure  Finns,  having  probably  an  in- 
fusion of  Samoyedic  blood.  But  this  is  no  difficulty,  as  the 
same  phenomenon  meets  us  among  the  Aryans,  the  type,  as  we 
proceed  from  Northern  to  Southern  Europe  changing  from  fair 
to  dark,  just  as  among  the  Finnic  races  it  changes  from  yellow 
to  red,  and  red  to  dark,  as  we  go  eastward. 

Thus  there  is  a  gradual  gradation  in  language  and  physical 
type,  from  the  Finns,  whose  language  is  almost  inflectional,  and 
whose  type  is  Aryan,  to  the  Ostiaks  whose  language  may  be 
classed  either  as  Finnic  or  Ugric,  and  then  through  the  Ugric 
tribes  to  the  Tschuwash,  whose  speech  is  midway  between 
Ugric  and  Turkic.  In  like  manner  the  Turkic  tribes  gradually 
approximate  to  the  Mongolic.  There  is  a  similar  gradation 
among  the  Aryans  from  the  Lithuanians  to  the  Germans,  the 
English,  the  Kelts,  and  the  Latins. 

It  is  thus  possible  to  pass  from  the  Mongols  to  the  Tatars, 
from  the  Tatars  to  the  Ugrians,  from  the  Ugrians  to  the  Finns, 
from  the  Finns  to  the  Teutons,  and  from  the  Teutons  to  the 
Kelts  and  the  Latin  races.  Nowhere  is  there  any  great  gulf,  but 
rather  an  inclined  plane  of  race  and  language. 

But  this  does  not  affect  the  fact  that  the  pure  Finnic  race 
in  Finland  and  Esthonia  is  tall,  fair,  and  blue-eyed,  just  as  the 
pure  Aryan  race  in  Scandinavia  and  Northern  Germany  is  also 
blue  eyed,  tall,  and  fair. 

We  must  remember  that  language  is  unstable,  while  the 
ethnic  type  remains  constant.  In  Babylonia  the  type  remains, 
though  the  language  has  changed  from  Accadian  to  Semitic, 
and  from  Semitic  to  Persian,  Greek,  and  Arabic  in  turn.  The 
same  is  the  case  in  Asia  Minor  and  Syria,  where  the  ancestors 
of  the  present  population  have  spoken  Hittite,  Aramean,  Greek, 
and  Arabic,  while  in  Egypt  Coptic  has  been  replaced  by  Greek, 
and  Greek  by  Arabic.  In  Southern  Europe  Sicily  and  Spain 
present  similar  phenomena. 

It  may  be  affirmed  that,  except  the  Finns,  there  is  no  race 
existing  in  the  world  from  which  the  northern  Aryans  could 
have  derived  their  unique  physical  characteristics ;  and  that 
there  is  no  language  except  the  Finnic  from  which  the  Aryan 
speech  could  have  been  developed. 

Either  the  characteristics  of  the  Finns  must  have  been  de- 
rived from  the  Aryans,  or  the  characteristics  of  the  Aryans  from 
the  Finns.  The  first  is  the  contention  of  Penka — the  second  is 
my  own. 

Language  changes  more  readily  than  race,  and  if  the  Finns 
had  received  such  an  overwhelming  infusion  of  Aryan  blood  as 
to  change  the  type  from  dark  to  fair,  from  black  eyes  to  blue, 
from  short  to  tall,  from  brachycephalic  to  dolichocephalic,  it  is 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  251 

strange  indeed  that  the  language  of  the  higher  race  should  not 
also  have  replaced  the  language  of  the  lower  race.  Penka's  con- 
tention, in  short,  amounts  to  this,  that  the  Finns  are  really  an 
Aryan  race,  who,  in  some  way,  have  acquired  a  language  of  the 
Altaic  type.  This  seems  quite  incredible,  and  it  is  far  more 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Finns  are  rather  the  survival  of 
the  race  from  which  the  Aryans  sprang,  a  survival  due  to  their 
isolation  in  the  inaccessible  marshes  of  Finland,  which,  so  far  as 
we  know,  they  have  always  inhabited. 

But  this  Finnic  race  was  once  far  more  extensive.  It  has  con- 
tinually been  encroached  on,  more  especially  by  Slaves,  who, 
though  speaking  an  Aryan  tongue,  are  themselves  mainly  of 
Finnic  or  Ugric  blood.  The  process  of  assimilation  is  still 
rapidly  proceeding.  Castren  thinks  that  in  the  time  of  Tacitus 
the  Finns  extended  uninterruptedly  from  the  Ural  to  the 
Baltic.  He  arrives  at  this  conclusion  from  the  evidence  of 
Finnic  place-names  in  Russia,  and  from  the  fact  that  in  Nestor's 
time  there  were  many  Finns  in  parts  of  Eussia  from  whence 
they  have  now  disappeared. 

That  the  region  south  of  the  White  Sea,  the  land  of  the 
Biarmians,  was  once  Finnic,  has  been  proved  by  Ujf'alyy  from 
the  evidence  of  place-names  and  from  the  numerous  Finnic 
words  incorporated  into  the  Eussian  dialect  of  the  department 
of  Archangel. 

The  Esths  still  occupy  the  land  of  the  Aestisei  of  Tacitus, 
who  inhabited  the  amber  land  of  the  Baltic,  and  the  Finns  are 
believed  by  Zeuss  to  be  the  Fenui  of  Tacitus,  and  the  Finnoi  of 
Ptolemy. 

According  to  Diefenbach  the  Finns  once  stretched  far  to  the 
south  in-  Europe,  as  well  as  to  the  north  and  east,  having  been 
pushed  back,  or  more  probably  absorbed,  by  the  Aryans,  but 
they  still  range  in  almost  unbroken  order  as  far  as  the  Finno- 
Ugric  tribes  of  Asia. 

This  Finnic  race,  formerly  so  widely  spread  over  Northern  and 
Eastern  Europe,  exhibits  in  its  highest  development  the  same 
ethnic  type  as  those  Aryan  races  who  seem  to  have  the  best 
title  to  represent  the  primitive  Aryan  type.  At  all  events 
there  is  no  other  ethnic  type  from  which  the  Aryans  can  so 
reasonably  be  derived.  The  Aryans  must  have  sprung  from 
some  other  race  in  an  inferior  linguistic  and  social  stage.  From 
what  race  ?  Plainly  from  a  white  race,  a  northern  race,  and  a 
race  whose  language  approaches  their  own.  They  could  not  have 
sprung  from  a  Semitic  stock.  The  type  is  altogether  different. 
The  Semites  have  an  aquiline  nose,  black  hair  and  eyes,  and  an 
oval  face.  Their  language,  though  inflexional,  is  fundamentally 
different,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Semites  origi- 


252  CANON  TAYLOR. — The  Origin  and 

nated  in  Northern  Arabia.  The  other  great  families  of  mankind, 
the  Mongolic,  the  Turkic,  the  Negroid,  the  Berber,  and  the 
Egyptian,  present  equal  or  greater  difficulties.  The  choice 
seems  to  lie  between  the  Iberian  and  Finnic  stocks,  if,  indeed, 
these  were  not  fragments  of  the  same  family  separated  by 
intrusive  Aryan  peoples. 

But  if  we  accept  the  reasonings  of  Penka  and  others  as  to 
the  primitive  Aryan  type,  and  Tick's  reasoning  as  to  the 
northern  origin  of  the  Aryans,  we  must  give  the  preference  to 
the  Finnic  rather  than  to  the  Iberic  race,  as  the  Aryan  mother 
stock. 

If  this  be  so,  if  the  Aryans  are  an  improved  race  of  Finns, 
then  Finnic  speech  ought  to  exhibit  signs  of  being  the  mother 
tongue  from  which  the  Aryan  languages  were  developed ;  or, 
conversely,  the  Finnic  ought  to  be  a  survival  of  the  ruder  holo- 
ethnic  speech  from  which  the  Aryan  was  developed. 

Is  this  possible  ?  Can  the  inflexional  Aryan  languages  have 
arisen  from  the  agglutinative  Finnic  speech  ? 

This,  I  think,  is  possible.  Prof  Max  Miiller,  who  must  be 
regarded  as  a  hostile  witness,  since  he  believes  that  the  Aryans 
originated  in  the  highlands  of  Central  Asia,  observes,  "  we 
might  almost  doubt  whether  the  grammar  of  this  language 
(Finnic)  had  not  left  the  agglutinative  stage,  and  entered  into 
the  current  of  inflexion  with  Greek  and  Sanskrit."1 

Prof.  Max  Miiller  is  plainly  conscious  that  in  the  Finnic 
speech  we  find  a  point  of  closer  linguistic  approximation  to  the 
Aryan  languages  than  can  elsewhere  be  discovered.  The  ap- 
proximation is  still  more  evident  if  we  compare  two  languages 
in  geographical  contact,  the  Esthonian,  the  most  advanced  of 
the  Finnic  languages,  and  the  Lithuanian,  the  most  backward 
of  the  Aryan. 

The  Lithuanian,  the  most  archaic  type  of  Aryan  speech,  is 
spoken  in  the  Baltic  provinces  of  Eussia  and  in  the  adjacent 
regions  of  East  Prussia.  It  has  been  much  encroached  upon, 
and  has  been  supposed  at  one  time  to  have  extended  as  far  as  the 
Danube.  It  is  now  in  geographical  contact  with  the  Esthonian. 
We  find,  therefore,  side  by  side,  still  dwelling  in  their  primitive 
seats,  the  Esths,  the  members  of  the  Finnic  family  who  are  most 
advanced  in  civilisation,  in  physical  type,  and  in  language,  and 
their  western  neighbours  the  Lithuanians,  who  speak  the  most 
archaic  of  all  living  Aryan  languages. 

In  this  region,  therefore,  if  Aryan  speech  was  developed  out 
of  Finnic  speech,  we  may  look  for  evidence  of  the  transition 
between  the  Finnic  and  Aryan  languages. 

1  Max  Miiller,  "  Lectures,"  I,  page  319. 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  253 

In  what  points  should  we  expect  to  be   able  to  trace  this 
original  linguistic  identity,  if  it  existed  ? 

The  separation  must  have  been  at  so  remote  a  date — at  the 
least   5,000  years  ago,  probably  much  more — that  we  cannot 
expect  to  find  any  very  evident  traces  of  a  common  vocabulary. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  a  large  number  of  common  words,  but 
these,   as  Ahlquist  has  shown,   cannot  be  taken  into  account 
since  they   are  mostly  Kultur-worten,  borrowed  by  the  Finns 
at  a  time  long  subsequent  to  the  separation,  and  they  are  more- 
over words  denoting  a  higher  stage  of  culture  than  was  reached 
when  the  separation  of  the  Aryan  races  took  place.     Such,  for 
instance,  as  the  words  for  lead  and  tin,  for  the  anvil,  agriculture, 
for  ships,  for  woven  garments,  and,  in  all  probability,  for  the 
horse.     These  are  the  same  in  Finnic  and  Aryan  speech,  but 
they  cannot  be  taken  into  account  as  they  are  plainly  loan 
words,  and  are  only  found  among  the  western  Finns,  while  their 
origin  can  be  traced  without  difficulty  to  some  contiguous  form 
of  Aryan  speech,  usually  Scandinavian,  Slavonic,  or  Lithuanian. 
But   it  is   entirely  different   when  we  come  to  another  class 
of  words,  those  denoting  the  primary  relations  and  necessities 
of  existence,  such  as  the  words  for  father,  mother,  son,  daughter, 
brother,   sister,   which   are   common   to   the   European- Asia  tic 
branches  of  the  Finnic  race.     The  same  is  the  case  with  some  of 
the  numerals,  and  with  some  of  the  primary  necessaries  of  life, 
salt,  shelter,  food,  the  rudest  tools,  and  two  of  the  metals,  gold 
and  copper.     But  when  we  go  still  deeper,  when  we  go  back  to 
the  very  oldest  traces  of  linguistic  affinity,  then  the  relationship 
becomes  more  plain.     When  we  analyse  the  verbal  roots,  the 
pronouns,  the  structure,  the  formatives,  and  the  fundamental 
conceptions  of  grammar,  then  the  linguistic  resemblance — I  may 
almost  say  the  linguistic  identity — comes  out  with  startling  plain- 
ness.     Borrowing  is   here   out  of  the   question,   because   the 
resemblance  is  so  deep-seated ;  it  is  a  resemblance  not  of  words, 
but  of  roots,  of  grammatical  structure,  of  pronouns,  of  demon- 
stratives and  relatives,  and  of  formative  suffixes.     That  not  only 
the  verbal  roots  and  stems,  but  that  the  pronominal  suffixes 
of  the  first,  second,  and  third  persons  of  the  verb  should  be 
ultimately  the  same,   that    the  formation   of  the   nominative, 
genitive,  and  accusative  should  be  analogous,  argues,  not  borrow- 
ing, but  a  primitive  unity. 

This  cannot  be  affirmed  of  the  Aryan  and  any  other  family  of 
speech.  There  is  no  such  fundamental  community  as  to  the 
first  elements  of  speech  between  the  Aryans  and  any  other 
race,  Semitic,  African,  or  Turkic.  The  Finnic  language  is  the 
bridge  between  the  languages  of  Asia  and  Europe.  In  their 
structure  they  hold  on,  with  one  hand,  to  the  Ugric,  Turkic, 

VOL.  XVII.  S 


254  CANON  TAYLOR. — The  Origin  and 

and  Mongolia,  less  advanced  than  themselves ;  while  with  the 
other  hand  they  grasp  the  more  Aryan  languages.  We  have 
the  connecting  link  between  the  speech  of  Northern  Asia  and  of 
Xorthern  Europe.  In  the  Baltic  provinces  we  find  a  common 
point  of  contact  between  languages  so  diverse  as  Turkish  and 
Teutonic.  The  vowel  harmony  and  the  relics  of  agglutination 
link  them  with  the  Turkic  tongues ;  the  inflectional  grammar, 
the  formatives  and  the  roots  link  them  with  the  Aryan 
languages. 

The  only  assignable  argument  for  the  now  exploded  theory 
which  places  the  primitive  Aryan  home  in  the  highlands  of 
Central  Asia  was  the  supposition,  now  shown  to  be  erroneous, 
that  Sanskrit  presents  us  with  the  most  archaic  type  of  Aryan 
speech.  This  belief  is  now  generally  surrendered  in  favour  of 
that  advocated  by  Posche  and  others,  that  the  Lithuanian 
rather  than  Sanskrit,  comes  nearest  to  the  Aryan  Ursprackc. 
If  this  is  the  case,  as  is  now  generally  admitted,  all  the  argu- 
ments which  brought  the  primitive  Aryans  from  the  head 
waters  of  the  Oxus,  where  the  Iranian  and  Sanskrit  peoples 
separated  from  each  other,  become  arguments  for  placing  the 
original  Aryan  home  in  proximity  to  the  region  now  occupied 
by  the  Lithuanians. 

In  comparing  Finnic  and  Aryan  grammar  I  will  first  give  an 
outline  of  the  results  set  forth  in  a  remarkable  paper  by  Weske, 
Ueber  die  historische  Entwickelung  der  finnischen  Sprachen  in 
Vergleich  mit  der  der  Indo-germanischen. 

The  chief  difference,  he  observes,  between  Turanian  and 
Aryan  speech  is  that  the  one  is  agglutinative  while  the  other 
is  inflexional. 

The  Finnic  is  the  most  advanced  of  the  agglutinative  Tura- 
nian languages.  Though  connected  with  them  by  the  roots, 
grammar,  and  formatives,  yet  the  suffixes  are  almost  as  firmly 
united  to  the  roots  in  Finnic  as  in  Lithuanian  or  Sanskrit.  The 
structure  of  the  Finnic  languages  cannot,  on  the  one  hand,  be 
divided  by  a  sharp  line  from  Turkic,  or  on  the  other  by  a  sharp 
line  from  Aryan.  Finnic  is  the  link  which  unites  them  both. 

We  may  take  Sanskrit  and  Lithuanian  as  two  of  the  more 
archaic  Aryan  languages  and  compare  the  method  of  word- 
building  from  the  verbal  root  with  the  same  process  in  Suomi 
and  Esthonian,  two  of  the  most  advanced  Finnic  tongues.  The 
formative  ma  is  employed  in  Aryan  and  Finnic  with  the  same 
signification.  In  Finnic,  combined  with  the  verbal  root  san,  to 
say,  it  gives  san-o-ma,  a  message  ;  with  the  root  juo,  to  drink,  it 
gives  juo-ma,  drink ;  with  tek,  to  do,  it  gives  tek-e-ma,  a  deed. 
In  Aryan  languages  the  combinations  are  identical ;  in  Sanskrit, 
fioin  the  verbal  root  gliar,  to  burn,  we  have  ghar-ma,  warmth, 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aiyans.  255 

from  dhu,  to  move,  we  have  dhu-ma,  smoke ;  in  Lithuanian 
from  vaz,  to  carry,  we  have  vaz-ma,  carriage,  from  aud,  to 
weave,  we  have  aud-i-ma,  a  web,  and  in  Latin  from  fa,  to  say, 
we  have  fa-ma,  a  report. 

Here  the  same  suffix  is  seen  to  be  bound  as  tightly  to  the 
verbal  in  Finnic  as  in  Aryan,  the  method  of  formation  is  iden- 
tical, and  the  suffix  is  common  to  both.  The  comparison  might 
be  extended  to  other  formative  suffixes  which  are  employed 
both  in  Aryan  and  Finnic  languages,  such  for  instance  as  na,ja, 
va,  la,  ka,  and  la.  Thus,  to  take  an  instance  or  two,  we  have  in 
Finnic  the  formative  na,  which  combined  with  the  verbal  root 
koh,  to  drink,  gives  koh-i-na,  drunken;  while  this  suffix  combined 
with  the  verbal  root  svap,  to  sleep,  gives  in  Sanskrit  svap-na, 
sleep,  and  in  Lithuanian  sap-na,  sleep.  Or  take  the  formative 
ja,  which  in  Finnic  from  lug,  to  read,  gives  lug-e-ja,  a  reader, 
and  in  Lithuanian  from  sta,  to  stand,  gives  sta-ja,  a  position,  or 
place. 

We  may  next  examine  the  pronominal  suffixes  which  are 
suffixed  to  the  verbal  roots  for  the  conjugation  of  the  verb. 
Prof.  Doimer  has  shown  that  in  Finnic,  the  primitive  pro- 
nominal suffixes  were  ma  for  the  first  person,  ta  for  the  second, 
and  sa  for  the  third.  Now  ma  is  the  pronoun  "  I "  or  "  me," 
both  in  Aryan  and  Finnic  languages,  and  thus  an  Esthonian 
who  says  ma,  I,  is  speaking  Aryan  as  well  as  Finnic.  In 
modern  Aryan  languages,  as  well  as  in  Finnic,  this  suffix  has 
sometimes  become  -m  or  -n,  or  has  even  disappeared  altogether. 
Let  us  now  compare  the  conjugation  in  Aryan  and  Finnic  lan- 
guages. From  the  Sanskrit  verbal  root  vah,  to  carry  (cf.  Latin, 
velio),  we  have  vah-a-mi,  I  carry  ;  and  from  bhar,  to  bear,  we 
have  a-bhar-am,  I  bore  (cf.  Greek,  i-anj-pi  and  e-fyep-ov).  In 
Lithuanian  we  have  es-mi,  I  am,  in  Old  High  German  tuo-m, 
I  do,  and  ga-m,  I  go,  which  in  New  High  German  have  become 
thu-e  and  geh-e.  In  Finnic  the  same  suffix  ma  has  undergone 
the  same  changes.  Thus  in  Tscheremis  "  I  come "  is  tola-m, 
in  Suomi  tule-n,  in  Esthonian  tul-e.  "I  live"  is  dle-m  in  Lapp, 
ale-n  in  Suomi,  el-d  in  Esthonian. 

So,  also,  with  the  pronominal  suffix  of  the  second  person. 
In  Suomi  we  have  tule-t,  thou  comest,  the  t  being  derived  from 
the  pronoun  ta,  thou,  just  as  in  Aryan  languages  the  suffix  s  is 
derived  from  tva,  thou,  as  in  the  Sanskrit  bhdra-si,  thou  bearest. 

The  plural  pronominal  suffixes  differ  somewhat  in  Aryan  aud 
Finnic,  owing,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown,  to  the  plural  having 
orginated  after  the  separation  of  the  Aryan  from  the  Finnic 
races,  but  the  identity  of  the  plural  and  pronominal  signs  is 
curious.  In  Finnic,  the  plural  pronominal  suffix  of  the  first 
person  is  m-me,  as  tule-m-me,  we  come.  The  first  m  arose  out  of 

s  2 


256  CANON  TAYLOK. — TJte  Origin  and 

n,  due  to  the  disappearance,  as  Budenz  holds,  of  t,  the  plural 
sign.  In  Aryan  the  suffix  of  the  first  person  plural  is  ma-s 
(=  ma-si),  compounded  of  ma,  I,  and  the  plural  suffix.  In  Finnic 
the  suffix  of  the  second  person  plural  is  t-te  (as  in  tule-t-te,  ye 
come),  compounded  of  the  plural  suffix  t  as  before,  and  ta  thou. 
In  Aryan  the  suffix  was  originally  ta-si  from  ta,  and  the  plural 
suffix.  We  see  the  Finnic  plural  suffix  t  which  was  probably 
the  archaic  form  of  the  Aryan  plural  suffix  s.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  order  of  the  signs  of  the  plural  and  the  pronoun 
is  different  in  Aryan  and  Finnic.  They  were  independently 
formed,  after  the  separation  of  the  races,  but  the  materials  out 
of  which  they  were  formed  were  identical. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  declension  of  the  noun.  The  case 
signs  in  Finnic  arose  out  of  suffixed  prepositions  as  in  Aryan 
languages.  We  have  the  ablative  in  -t,  the  genitive  in  -n,  and 
the  accusative  in  -m.  Thus  in  Tscherernis  we  have  the  accusa- 
tive vida-m,  water,  from  the  stem  vid-a,  water,  and  in  Sanskrit 
pati-m,  master,  from  the  stem  pati. 

In  Aryan,  as  in  Finnic,  there  are  internal  vowel  changes  in 
the  stems  as  in  Finnic,  but  these,  probably,  may  date  from  a 
later  period. 

I  feel  bound  to  give  full  prominence  to  the  two  strongest- 
arguments  against  the  primitive  identity  of  the  Finnic  and 
Aryan  tongues,  arguments  that  to  many  will,  perhaps,  seem 
conclusive  against  my  contention. 

These  arguments  are  morphological,  and  seem  to  go  down  to 
the  very  foundations  of  grammar. 

They  are,  first,  that  the  Finnic  languages,  like  the  rest  of  the 
Turanian  class,  possess  no  gender ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  sign 
of  the  plural  is  inserted  between  the  stem  and  the  pronominal 
or  postpositional  suffixes,  instead  of  after  them,  as  in  Aryan 
languages.  This  is  also  the  case  with  Georgian,  where  bi  or 
ni,  the  plural  sign,  is  inserted  between  the  root  and  the  case 
endings. 

I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  these  two  peculiarities  of  Finnic 
grammar,  instead  of  being  fatal  to  my  proposition,  afford  a  very 
curious  confirmation  of  some  speculations  of  Prof.  Sayce,  as  to 
the  earliest  form  of  Aryan  speech,  and,  therefore,  if  his  specula- 
tions be  sound,  they  afford  a  remarkable  confirmation  of  my 
theory.  Not  only  has  gender  been  lost  in  two  Aryan  languages, 
English  and  Persian,  but  Prof.  Sayce  considers  that  gender  did 
not  exist  in  the  primitive  Aryan  speech,  in  which  case  its 
absence  from  Finnic  is  only  an  additional  proof  that  Aryan  was 
derived  from  Finnic.  In  his  article  on  grammar  in  the 
"  Encyclopaedia Britannica,"  Prof.  Sayce  observes  that  "Gender  is 
the  product  partly  of  analogy,  and  partly  of  phonetic  decay." 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  257 

"  There  are  many  indications,"  he  continues,  "  that  the  parent 
Aryan,  at  an  early  stage  of  its  existence,  had  no  signs  of  gender 
at  all."  "  The  terminations  of  father  and  mother,  pater  and 
mater  for  example,  are  exactly  the  same."  "  Feminines  like 
humus  and  6809,  or  masculines  like  advena  and  TroXm??,  show 
there  was  a  time  when  these  stems  indicated  no  particular 
gender,  but  owed  their  subsequent  adaption,  the  one  to  mark 
the  masculine,  and  the  other  to  mark  the  feminine,  to  the 
influence  of  analogy."  If  this  reasoning  is  correct,  and  I 
confess  I  do  not  see  any  flaw,  we  should  expect  to  find  the 
parent  Aryan  genderless  like  the  Finnic. 

If  Prof.  Sayce  is  right,  the  very  fact  that  Finnic  is  without 
gender,  is  one  reason  the  more  why  we  may  look  to  Finnic  as 
the  parent  of  Aryan  speech. 

The  same  reasoning  holds  as  to  the  difference  in  the  formation 
of  the  plural.  Prof.  Sayce  considers  that  in  the  primitive 
Aryan  speech  there  was  no  plural,  but  only  the  singiilar  and  the 
dual.  Now,  though  the  plural  is  differently  formed  from  the 
same  elements  in  Aryan  and  Finnic,  the  dual  is  formed  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  way.  Hence  I  take  the  different  formation  of 
the  Aryan  and  Finnic  plural  to  be  a  sign  of  primitive  unity. 
Prof.  Sayce  says1:  "  We  might  think  the  roots  of  the  plural  go 
down  to  the  beginnings  of  language,  but  it  is  not  so."  He 
thinks  this  is  proved  by  the  existence  of  the  dual,  which  would 
have  been  needless  if  the  plural  had  been  in  existence,  as  we  see 
by  the  fact  that  the  existence  of  the  plural  has  caused  the  dual 
to  be  dropped.  "  The  dual,"  he  says,2  "  was  older  than  the 
plural,  and  after  the  development  of  the  latter,  survived  only  as 
a  useless  encumbrance,  which  most  of  the  Aryan  languages 
contrived  to  get  rid  of."  The  same  was  the  case  with  the  Finnic 
languages,  which  originally  had  a  dual,  as  proved  by  its 
existence  in  Ostiak,  Lapp,  and  Samoyed,  but  the  more  cultured 
languages  have  got  rid  of  it.  Now,  the  curious  point  is  that, 
though  the  Aryan  and  Finnic  languages  differ  fundamentally  in 
the  formation  of  the  plural,  they  agree  precisely  as  to  the 
formation  of  the  dual. 

The  Aryan  dual  is  believed  to  have  been  formed  by  two 
suffixed  pronouns,  as-ma  (=  I  +  he)  being  equivalent  to  "we 
two,"  and  tas-ma  (=  thou  4-  he)  =  ye  two.  In  like  manner 
Pott  considered  the  Samoyed  dual  was  originally  equivalent  to 
I  +  he,  and  the  same  holds  probably  of  Ostiak  and  Lapp.  The 
dual  suffix  in  Finnic  follows  the  case  ending  and  pronominal 
suffix  as  in  the  Aryan  languages. 

1  Sayce,  "  Princ-iples,"  page  258. 
*  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  article  Grammar. 


258  CANON  TAYLOR. — The  Origin  and 

In  the  Finnic  languages  the  dual  is  formed  like  the  Aryan 
dual.  The  case  ending  comes  first,  and  the  sign  for  the  dual 
after  it. 

But  the  Aryan  and  Finnic  languages  must  have  separated 
when  they  were  in  the  stage  which  Prof.  Sayce  assigns  to  the 
oldest  Aryan  speech,  that  is,  when  they  possessed  only  a 
singular  and  a  dual. 

In  both  the  plural  was  a  subsequent  formation,  and  was  formed 
in  Aryan  on  the  model  of  the  dual,  either  by  the  addition  of  a 
plural  suffix,  or  as  some  grammarians  hold,  by  an  intensification  of 
the  dual,  while  in  Finnic  it  was  formed  by  a  plural  suffix  t  inserted 
before  the  pronominal  suffix.  The  singular  and  plural  were 
regarded  as  independent  words,  and  the  suffixes  were  tacked  on, 
just  as  in  English  we  tack  on  the  sign  of  the  genitive  in  such 
words  as  man  and  men,  e.g.,  "  the  man's  boots,"  and  "  the  men's 
boots,"  a  formation  which  corresponds  exactly  to  the  formation 
in  the  Finnic  languages. 

I  maintain,  therefore,  that  the  two  chief  fundamental  differ- 
ences between  Aryan  and  Finnic  grammar,  namely,  gender  and 
the  plural,  instead  of  being  proofs  of  primitive  diversity,  are,  in 
the  light  of  the  most  recent  speculations,  convincing  proofs  of 
primitive  unity,  and  also  that  Finnic  grammar  is  able  to  cast 
unexpected  light  on  the  primitive  grammar  of  the  holo-ethnic 
Aryan  race. 

The  grammar  of  such  a  Turanian  language  as  the  Turkish 
seems  to  have  no  points  of  agreement  with  the  grammar  of  the 
more  advanced  Aryan  languages,  such  as  Persian  or  English,  but 
the  grammar  of  the  more  advanced  Finnic  languages,  such  as 
Suomi  or  Esthonian  is  not  far  removed  from  that  of  the  more 
archaic  Aryan  languages  such  as  Sanskrit  or  Lithuanian,  and 
hence  the  Finnic  forms  the  link  between  Aryan  and  Turanian 
speech.  We  find  a  gradual  progression  from  Buriat  through 
Yakut  and  Uigur  to  the  Tschuwash,  which  are  all  languages  of 
the  Turko-Tatar  class.  The  Tschuwash  is  not  very  far  removed 
from  the  Ugric  branch  of  the  Finnic  tongues,  so  that  through 
Magyar,  Ostiak,  Wogul,  and  Mordwin,  we  reach  the  Suomi  and 
Esthonian,  through  which  we  get  the  transition  to  Lithuanian 
and  Sanskrit,  which  are  inseparable  from  the  Keltic,  Latin, 
Greek,  Slavonic,  and  Teutonic  tongues.  Just  as  the  Finnic  is 
a  development  of  the  Turkic,  so  the  Aryan  is  a  development 
of  the  Finnic  Ursprache. 

Twenty  years  ago  when  Weske  pointed  out  the  grammatical 
analogies  between  Finnic  and  Aryan,  he  refrained  from  affirm- 
ing that  they  point  to  a  single  primitive  Ursprache,  because  at 
that  time  the  primitive  verbal  roots  of  the  Finnic  language  had 
not  been  determined.  This,  however,  has  now  been  done  by 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans. 


259 


Budenz,  Donner,  and  Vambery,  and  we  can  carry  Weske's 
argument  a  step  further,  and  show  not  only  that  the  grammar  is 
fundamentally  identical,  but  the  primitive  roots,  the  Staff  out  of 
which  the  vocabularies  have  been  manufactured,  is  the  same. 

To  demonstrate  this  proposition  would  require  a  volume.  I 
will  take  one  leaf  only  out  of  the  book,  as  a  sample  of  the  rest. 
It  will  be  better  to  examine  thoroughly  a  small  portion  of  the 
domain,  than  to  scamper  over  the  whole  ground.  Lest  I  should 
unconsciously  pick  my  evidence,  I  will  take  a  few  roots  in  con- 
secutive alphabetical  order.  Prof.  Skeat,  in  his  "  Etymological 
Dictionary,"  has  given  a  list  of  461  primitive  Aryan  roots, 
mainly  from  Tick.  Of  these  I  have  taken  the  18  triliteral  roots 
in  k,  Nos.  41-58,  and  have  compared  them  with  the  Finnic 
7i?-stems  in  Conner's  Vergleichendcs  Worterbuch  der  Finnische 
Sprachen,  Nos.  1-338. 

I  have  taken  the  triliteral  roots  because  the  biliteral  roots  are 
too  general  and  vague,  and  the  quadriliteral  too  modern,  having 
largely  been  developed  after  the  separation  of  the  Aryans  and 
linns.  They  are  properly  stems  rather  than  roots. 

The  resemblance,  nay,  the  identity  is  most  surprising.  Every 
one  of  these  18  triliteral  Aryan  roots  in  Jc  is  also  found  in  Finnic 
with  the  same  meaning.  It  is  perfectly  impossible  that  the 
resemblance  in  so  many  cases  can  be  accidental.  And  they 
cannot  be  loan  words,  as  they  extend  to  the  Asiatic  languages 
of  the  Finnic  class,  as  well  as  the  European  languages  which 
are  in  contact  with  Aryan  languages.  They  belong,  therefore,  to 
the  Finnic  Ursprache. 

Comparison  of  Verbal  Roots  in  Aryan  and  Finnic. 
AKYAN  ROOTS.  FINNIC  BOOTS. 


1.   A/KAK,  to  cackle,  laugh,  mate  a 
noise  (Skeat,  No.  41). 
Hence  cackle,  cock. 


2.   -V/KAK  (  =  hag)  to  gird,  surround 
(Skeat,  No.  42). 

Hence  hook,  haken,  hedge  ;  German 
hols. 

2A.   A/KAK,  to  excrete  (Fick). 

Hence  Latin  cacare ;  Greek  KO.KKTI  • 
Irish  cace,  excrement. 

.  3.   A/KAK,  to  waver,  hestitate,  be  in 
doubt  (Skeat,  No.  43). 

Hence  Latin  cunctor  ;  Sanskrit  cane, 
to  hesitate. 

4.   -/EAT  (  =  hath),  to  cover,  protect 
(Skeat,  No.  41). 

Hence  hat,  heed,  hut. 


1.  ,\AKAK,  to  cackle,  make  a  noise 
(Donner,  Nos.  20-25). 

Hence  Finnic  kaik-la,io-  sound,  kaj- 
an,  to  sound,  kuk-kua,  (o  cackle,  kuk, 
a  cock,  gag-o,  a  stork. 

2.  A/KAK,  to  bend  round  (Donner,  Nos. 
2-13). 

Hence  Finnic  kok,  a  hook,  kak-la, 
neck. 

2A.  -V/KAK,  to  excrete  (Donner,  No. 
24). 

Hence  Finnic  kak-ka,  excrement. 

3.  A/KAC,to  observe,  look  at  (Donner, 
Nos.  69,  70.) 

Hence  Finnic  kac-on,  to  prove,  try, 
look  at. 

4  -V^K  AT  (  =  kant) ,  to  cover  (Douner, 
Nos.  33-34). 

Hence  Finnic  kat-to,  a  roof,  kot-a,  a 
house ;  Magjar  haz,  a  house  (?). 


260 


CANON  TAYLOR. — The  Origin  and 


ABYAN  ROOTS. 

5.  A/KAD  (  =  hat),  to  fall,  go  away 
(Skeat,  No.  44  a). 

Hence  cadence  ;  Latin  cado. 

6.  -V/KAD  (  =  haf) , to  fell,  throw  down 
(Skeat,  No.  44  0). 

Hence  Sanskrit  cat-aya,  to  throw 
down  ;  English  hunt,  hand. 

7.  -/KAN,  to  siiig,  to  ring  (Skeat,  No. 
46. 

Hence  Latin  cano,  gemo. 

8.  A/KAP  (  =  haf),  to  contain,  hold, 
seize,  grasp  (Skeat,  No.  47). 

Hence  Sanskrit  cap-ala,  shell,  skull ; 
Greek  K«f>-a\ri  ;  Latin  cap-ut ;  English 
cup  ;  Latin  cap-io  ;  English  cap-acious. 

9.  A/KAP  (  =  kamp),  to  move  to  and 
fro,  vibrate,  bend  (Skeat,  No.  48). 

Hence  Greek  KOITTU)  ;  Keltic  cam, 
bent. 

10.  A/KAM  (  =  ham),  to  bend  (Skeat, 
No.  49). 

Hence  camera,  chamber,  ham,  combe, 
hump,  kink  •  Lithuanian  kampas ; 
crooked  ;  Greek  Kainrr). 

11.  A/KAM,  to  love  (Skeat,  No.  50). 
Hence  Latin  amo ;  English  home. 


12.  A/KAB,  to  make  work,  do  (Skeat, 
No.  51,  Fick  III,  p.  521). 

Hence  carve,  create,  ceremony,  auto- 
crat. 


13.  A/KAB  (  =  har),  to  hurt,  destroy 
(Skeat,  No.  54). 

Hence  Latin  gladius ;  English  harry. 
(The  Finnic  shows  that  this  is  the 
same  as  No.  12). 

14.  VKAB  or  KAL  (  =  har)  to  move, 
run,  speed  (Skeat,  No.  52). 

Hence  cel-er,  car-riage,  hor-se,  cur- 
ro,  cor-acle. 


15.  A/KAR  (  =  hal),  to  project,  stand 
np  (Skeat,  No.  53). 

Hence  Latin  collin,  culmen,  cvl-mus, 
celsvs  •  English  haulm,  holm. 

16.  A/KAB  (  =  har),   to  be   hard  or 
rough  (Skeat,  No.  55). 

Hence  Greek  /cfp-ctf,  a  horn,  icap- 
Kivof,  a  crab  ;  Latin  cor-nu  ;  t.  nglish 
horn,  hart. 


FINNIC  ROOTS. 

5.  A/KAT,  to  fall  (Donner,  No.  47). 
Hence  Finnic  kat-a,  to  fall  down. 

6.  A/KAT,  to  seize  (Donner,  Nos.  50, 
51,  61-64). 

Hence  Finnic  kat-e,  hand  ;  Ostiak, 
katt-em,  to  seize  ;  Finnic  Teat-ken,  to 
break  off  ;  Tscheremis  kat,  to  tear  oil'. 

7.  A/KAM,  to  resound,  to  ring  (Don- 
ner, Nos.  321-331). 

Hence  Finnic  kim-ea,  sounding,  kum- 
ea.  resonant ;  Permian,  gim,  thunder. 

8.  A/KAP,    to    seize,    hold,    contain 
(Donner,  Nos.  273,  279,  281). 

Hence  Finnic  kap-ia,  to  snatch,  kap- 
an,  to  seize,  kop-et,  to  excavate,  kuppi, 
a  cup,  kap-io,  a  helmet,  kop-aska,  skuil, 
kop-pa,  forehead. 

9.  A/KAP,  to    hasten,    knock,   bend 
(Donner,  Nos.  265-286). 

Hence  Finnic  kap-un,  to  hasten  for- 
ward, kop-utan,  to  knock,  kap,  bent. 

10.  A/KAM,  to  bend   (Donner,  Nos. 
308,  320,  15-18). 

Hence  Finnic  kam-ma,  a  sleeping 
room,  kum-pu,  a  small  hill  in  a  marsli, 
kank,  bent,  kampura,  crooked. 

11.  A/KAM,  to  lore  (Demur,  No.  351). 
Hence    Finnic    heimo,    family   race, 

aim,  home,  domestics,  hcimo,  relations  ; 
Wogul  kant,  family  ;  Mongol,  aim-ak, 
family. 

12.  A/KAB,   to  work,   cut  (Donner, 
No.  161). 

Henee  Finnic  ker-an,  to  hew,  punish  ; 
Syrianian  kar-ny,  to  make,  kur-as,  » 
knife,  kar-at,  a  plough,  kur-at,  the 
evil  spirit. 

13.  A/KAB,  to  injure   (Donner,  Nos. 
161,  186,  189). 

Hence  kar,  sharp,  kttr-i, punishment, 
kur-at,  the  evil  spirit,  kar-sin,  to  suffer, 
kor-set,  to  injure,  kar-was,  herb,  bitter. 

14.  A/KAE,    to    run  (Donner,    Nos. 
133,  216,  217). 

Hence  Finnic  kar-an,  to  run,  jump, 
ker-ap,  a  carriage,  kar-bes,  a  boat.  Cf. 
A/KAL,  to  flow,  to  go.  Hence  Turkic 
gel,  a  river  ;  Mongol  gol,  a  river. 

15.  /S/KAL  (  =  kul)  to  stand  up,  to 
project  (Donner,  Nos.  221,  222). 

Hence  Finnic  kol-lo,  a  point,  sum- 
mit, holm,  a  hill,  kor-si,  haulm,  kor-si, 
kur-o,  straw. 

16.  A/KAE,     to     be     rough,   sharp, 
(Donner,  Nos.  125-50). 

Hence  Finnic  kar-a,  a  bough,  ker, 
iron,  gor,  a  plough. 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans. 


261 


ARYAN  BOOTS. 

17.  A/KAR  (  =  har),  to  curve  or  roll 
(Skeat,  No.  56). 

Hence  cir-cle,  cor-ona,  crown,  curve, 
gar-den,  hor-tus,  \opoQ,  \op-ro<;  ;  Sans- 
krit, kri-mi,  a  worm  ;  Keltic,  cru-im,  a 
worm  ;  Latin  vermis. 

18.  A/KAR  (  =  har),  to  turn  (Skeat, 
No.  57). 

Hence  Latin  car-bo,  English  car-Ion, 
hearth,  kil-n, 

19.  A/KAB  (  =  kal,  hal),  to  call,  ex- 
claim, cry  out  (Skeat,  No.  58). 

Hence  Latin  clamo  ;  English  call. 


FINNIC  ROOTS. 

17.  A/KAB,  to  curve   (Donner,  Nos. 
165-178). 

Hence  Finnic  ker-i,  a  circle,  ker-i,  a 
wheel,  kar-i,  a  bow,  kar-tano,  a  court, 
farmyard,  gar-dde,  a  cattle-stall,  kdr- 
me,  a  snake. 

18.  A/KAB,   to   burn    (Donner,    No. 
149). 

Hence  Finnic  kar-tuan,  to  burn. 

19.  A/K.AR,  to  cry  (Donner,  No.  164), 
Cf.  A/KAL,  to  howl  or  cry. 


'Here  are  19  of  Skeat's  ultimate  Aryan  verbal  roots,  not  selected, 
but  taken  consecutively  as  he  gives  them,  which  are  identical 
in  meaning  and  sound  with  19  of  Donner's  ultimate  Finnic 
verbal  roots. 

It  is  absolutely  impossible  that  the  coincidence  should  be 
accidental.  The  test  fairly  applied,  proves  that  the  Aryan  and 
Finnic  languages  were  manufactured  out  of  the  same  materials. 

The  resemblances  could  have  been  exhibited  in  a  more 
striking  form  by  taking  the  Aryan  roots  as  given  by  Tick, 
whose  analysis  goes  deeper,  but  I  have  taken  those  given  by 
Skeat  because  they  are  more  accessible,  and  because  the  alpha- 
betical order  in  which  he  gives  them  precludes  any  possibility 
•of  cooking  the  evidence. 

A  few  more  selected  roots  may  be  added  to  the  foregoing 
st:— 


ABYAN  ROOTS. 

20.  A/KAS,  to  cough  (Skeat,  No.  68.) 

21.  A/KAS,  to   bless,   praise    (Skeat, 
No.  66.) 

Evidently  a  secondary  sense  of  20. 

22.  A/KAR,  to   bound  alont;,  speed. 
Hence  has-te ;  German  hase,  hare. 


23.   A/KER,  to  swell  out,  to  be  hollow 
(Skeat,  No.  74). 
Hence  coelam,  cave. 


24.  A/GAL  (  =  kaT),  to  freeze,  be  cold 
(Skeat,  No.  99). 

25.  /V/VAD,  to  be  wet. 
Hence  English  wet,  wade. 


FINNIC  ROOTS. 

20.  A/KAS,  to  sneeze,  to  cough  (Don- 
ner, No.  9fl). 

21.  A/KAS,  to  praise  (Donner). 
Hence  Finnic  cas-en,  to   command, 

kazin,  to  promise,  koz-mala,  koz-oni,  to 
thank,  to  bless. 

22.  A/KAS,  to  speed  (Donner,   Nos. 
94,  107). 

Hence  Finnic  kas-ka,  quick,  koz-el, 
a  spinning  wheel,  kos-k,  a  torrent. 

23.  A/HUH,  to  swell  out,  and  A/Ktrv, 
to  be  bent  or  hollow    (Donner,  Nos. 
121,  122,292-299). 

Hence  Finnic  kuov-at,  to  excavate, 
kav-a,  belly,  kav-is,  hoof. 

24.  A/KAL,  to  be  cold  (Donner,  Nos. 
200-214). 

25.  A/VAD,  to  be  wet. 

Hence  Mordwin  vad,  water;  Tschere- 
rnis  vid,  water;  Magyar,  viz.,  water; 
Esth  vessi,  water ;  Suomi  vesi,  water. 


262  CANON  TAYLOR. — Tlie  Origin  and 

I  would  only  notice  that  the  Aryan  did  not  separate  from  the 
Finnic  language  before  the  secondary  meaning  of  some  of  these 
roots  had  been  developed.  Thus  in  Aryan  and  Finnic  has,  to 
sneeze,  had  developed  the  meaning  of  "  to  bless" ;  kak,  to  bend, 
had  developed  the  meaning  "  to  excrete" ;  kar,  to  do,  had  become 
kar,  to  work  evil,  to  injure ;  and  kal,  to  cry  out,  and  ken,  to 
sing,  had  become  kam,  to  love. 

Moreover  the  Finnic  roots  often  throw  valuable  light  on 
obscure  Aryan  etymologies,  and  make  it  possible  to  classify  the 
ultimate  Aryan  roots  in  a  way  which  otherwise  would  be 
impossible. 

Not  only  are  the  verbal  roots  and  the  grammatical  structure 
identical  in  the  Aryan  and  Finnic  tongues,  but  those  primitive 
words  which  are  usually  common  to  related  languages,  and 
which  cannot,  like  culture  words,  have  well  been  borrowed. 
Such  words  are  those  denoting  the  primary  relations  of  life — the 
pronouns  and  the  numerals. 

That  the  pronouns  are  substantially  identical  I  have  shown 
in  examining  the  pronominal  suffixes  of  the  verb,  which 
exhibit  the  pronouns  in  their  oldest  forms,  and  I  will,  therefore, 
pass  on  to  the  words  denoting  the  fundamental  relationships  of 
life,  words  for  father,  mother,  uncle,  aunt,  son,  daughter,  brother, 
and  sister — words  which,  as  Diefenbach  affirms,  show  identical 
primitive  racial  affinities,  and  not  contact — words  which  he 
goes  on  to  say  penetrate  into  the  primitive  structure  of  all  the 
Turanian  languages,  and  vary  according  to  phonetic  laws  in  a 
host  of  dialects,  showing  a  deviation  from  the  primitive  Tura- 
nian Ursprache — words  like  suser  for  sister,  used  not  only  by 
the  European  Finns,  but  by  the  Eastern  Finns  on  the  Wolga, 
and  by  the  Wotiaks  on  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  which  in  no 
conceivable  manner  could  have  been  derived  by  those  distant 
tribes  from  the  German  Schwester. 

I  do  not  attach  so  much  importance  to  the  words  for  father 
and  mother,  as  these  being  the  easiest  words  for  children  to 
pronounce  may  be  the  same  in  unrelated  languages. 

We  may,  however,  compare  the  Aryan  mama,  mother,  with 
the  Esthonian  cma,  mother,  the  Ostiak  ima,  wife,  the  Magyar 
erne,  woman,  the  Karelian  maamo,  mother,  and  the  Syria  nian 
mam,  mother. 

We  may  also  compare  the  Suomi  taatt,  father,  the  Esthonian 
taat,  father,  with  the  Indian  tata,  Greek  rara,  Gothic,  atta,  and 
the  English  and  Keltic  daddy  and  dad. 

Still  more  to  the  point  are  the  words  for  son  and  daughter. 

We  have  in  Syrianiaii  pi,  son,  in  Magyar  fiu,  son,  in  Ostiak 
poll,  son,  Suomi  poig,  boy,  in  Esthonian,  pois,  pojn,  boy,  which 
may  be  compared  with  Greek  Trais,  our  ~boy,  Greek  i5i09,  and 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  263 

Latin  fi-lius.  In  Suomi  we  have  tytar,  daughter,  and  the  words 
tytto,  tytar,  for  daughter,  run  through  the  Finnic  languages, 
and  can  hardly  have  been  borrowed  from  the  Aryan,  since  tuta 
means  "  elder  sister  "  in  the  Tatar  languages. 

With  the  Finnic  sozer,  sister,  we  may  compare  the  Lithuanian 
sesser,  the  .Sanskrit  svasar,  the  Gothic  svistar,  and  the  Slavonic 
sestra. 

The  Aryan  and  Finnic  stem  martya,  mard,  denoting  homo,  has 
penetrated  so  deep  into  the  Finnic  languages  that  it  has  be- 
come the  base  of  the  ethnic  name  of  the  Mordwins,  "  the  men." 
Homo  is  mort  in  Syriauian,  mart,  mort,  murt,  in  the  Permian 
dialects,  and  murd  in  Wotiak.  The  Latin  vir  is  mirda  in  Mord- 
win,  mara  in  Tscheremis,  and  feig  in  Magyar,  mes  in  Olonez, 
mees  in  Esthonian,  mios  in  Tschud. 

In  Esth  and  Lithuanian  mes  is  husband,  in  Suomi  mies  is 
husband,  which  may  be  compared  with  the  Latin  mas.  With 
the  Latin  vir  the  Lettish  virs,  and  the  Lithuanian  vyras  we  may 
compare  the  Syrianian  veros,  husband,  Magyar  ur,  husband. 

With  the  Latin  mulier  and  Italian  moglia,  a  wife,  we  may 
compare  Finnic  muija,  wife. 

With  the  Latin  maritus  and  our  marriage,  and  Lithuanian 
marti  (genitive  marzcicos},  a  bride,  compare  Finnic  morsian,  a 
bride. 

With  the  Finnic  nepa,  a  nephew,  we  may  compare  the  Iranian 
napat,  nephew,  the  Anglo-Saxon  nefa,  a  nephew,  Old  High 
German  nefo,  Latin,  nepos,  Sanskrit,  napat. 

Not  only  do  the  names  of  these  relationships  correspond,  but  a 
primitive  identity  in  the  numerals  up  to  ten  may  probably  be 
traced.  In  most  cases  the  ordinary  numerals  differ  in  Aryan  and 
Finnic,  but  there  are  traces  of  older  numerals  which  seem  to  agree. 

Thus,  the  ordinary  Finnic  10  is  kume,  kumen,  or  kymmenen, 
but  we  have  a  relic  of  an  older  10. 

The  Syrianian  das,  10,  and  Magyar  tiz,  10,  which  are  related 
to  Latin  decem,  as  is  shown  by  the  Esthonian,  in  which  ut-tesa 
is  9  (i.e.,  10  —  1)  while  kat-tesa  is  8  (i.e.,  10—2). 

Here  plainly  tesa  denotes  10.  Now  in  Suomi  yh-deksan  is  9 
(10  —  1),  kah-deksan  is  8  (10  —  2). 

Hence  the  primitive  Finnic  word  for  10  was  deksan.  The  fact 
that  it  occurs  only  in  composition  shows  it  could  not  have  been 
borrowed.  It  enters  into  the  very  structure  of  the  numerals  for 
eight  and  nine,  which  no  borrowed  numeral  would  have  done. 

The  Finnic  words  for  7  are  seitsema  (n),  seitza,  seittem, 
and  sebet,  with  which  we  may  compare  the  7  of  the  Aryan 
languages,  such  as  the  Irish  secht  from  sechten,  the  Welsh  seith, 
the  Lithuanian  septyni,  the  Gothic  sibun,  the  Old  Slavonic 
sedmi,  and  the  Sanskrit  saptan. 


264  OAXON  TAYLOE. — Tlie  Origin  and 

The  Finnic  2  is  kat  or  kaksi.  It  appears  that  this  was  the 
primitive  Aryan  2,  for  the  Zend  kshvas,  6,  points  to  an  original 
initial  guttural,  justifying  Prof.  Goldschicher's  view  that  it 
stands  for  ka-katwar  =2  +  4. 

For  100  we  have  from  the  stem  katam,  the  Sanskrit  catam,  the 
Greek  e/carov,  and  the  Latin  centum.  In  Finnic  languages  we 
have  the  Suomi  sata,  the  Livonian  sada,  the  Mordwin  sada,  the 
Wogul  sat,  the  Magyar  szas. 

The  physical  and  linguistic  resemblances  between  the  Finnic 
and  Aryan  races  are  too  deep  to  be  explained  by  commercial 
intercourse,  by  wars,  slavery,  or  migration,  or  as  Penka  argues, 
by  geographical  contact.  Penka  admits  that  they  are  so  funda- 
mental that  they  must  go  back  to  a  very  remote  era.  They 
extend  to  the  Asiatic  as  well  as  to  the  European  Finns ;  and, 
therefore,  Penka  thinks,  must  go  back  to  the  time  when  the 
Finnic  races  were  still  undivided. 

Diefenbach  holds,  more  reasonably  as  I  think,  that  the  pro- 
nominal suffixes  of  the  verb,  and  the  common  verbal  roots 
establish  a  primitive  connection,  and  that  the  Finnic  speech  is 
the  link  between  Aryan  and  Turanian  languages.  The  common 
verbal  roots  and  the  words  for  relationship  cannot  be  explained  as 
loan  words,  since  they  vary  according  to  the  laws  of  phonetic 
correspondence,  in  the  Asiatic  as  well  as  the  European  dia- 
lects, and  they  must,  therefore,  have  belonged  to  the  Finnic 
Ursprache. 

The  real  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  physical  resem- 
blance exists  only  between  the  western  Finns  and  the  northern 
Aryans,  neither  the  eastern  Finns  nor  the  southern  Aryans 
exhibiting  the  pure  Aryan  type  —  tall,  blue-eyed,  and  fair- 
haired. 

This  can  be  explained,  if  we  suppose  that  the  eastern  Finns 
are  Ugrians,  and  not  Finns  by  blood,  just  as  the  Slaves,  who 
agree  with  the  Ugrians  in  type  are  probably  not  Aryan  by 
blood  ;  while  the  Mediterranean  races  are  Iberian  in  blood  and 
only  Aryan  in  speech. 

The  most  probable  solution  seems  to  be  that  in  the  western 
part  of  the  primitive  Finnic  area,  the  more  favourable  physical 
conditions  led  to  a  development  of  the  Finnic  type  and  Finnic 
speech,  into  what  we  call  the  Aryan  type  and  Aryan  speech, 
while  among  the  more  northern  portion  of  the  Finnic  race  under 
the  less  favourable  conditions  found  in  the  marshes  of  Finland, 
there  was  an  arrested  development,  leaving  the  Suomi  Finns  and 
the  Esthonians  as  survivals  in  race  and  language  of  the  primi- 
tive race  from  which  the  Aryans  sprang. 

If  we  thus  regard  the  Aryans  as  developed  out  of  the  Finnic 
family,  we  need  no  longer  suppose  that  separate  families 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans. 

branched  off  from  the  primitive  Aryan  stock,  and  migrated  to 
the  west,  but  we  may  think  rather  of  a  vast  Finnic  population 
spread  over  the  great  plain  of  Northern  Europe,  and  there  slowly 
developing  the  characteristics  of  Aryan  speech,  and  gradually 
becoming  differentiated  by  geographical  separation — an  inclined 
plane,  as  it  were  of  race  and  language  divided  into  separate 
stages  or  stairs,  so  to  speak,  by  the  destruction  of  the  interme- 
diate portions ;  those  to  the  west  becoming  Kelts,  those  to  the 
south  extending  their  dominion  and  speech  over  the  Iberian 
tribes,  and  those  to  the  east  over  the  cognate  Ugrians — the  last 
to  separate  being  the  Iranians  and  Indians,  who  exhibit  a  marked 
affinity  to  the  Lithuanians,  who  remained  in  their  original  seats, 
side  by  side  with  the  Esthonians  and  other  advanced  Finnic 
peoples. 

This  seems  more  probable  than  the  hypothesis  that  a  primi- 
tive pastoral  tribe  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Oxus,  threw  off 
successive  hordes  which  marched  westward  into  Europe. 

The  date  of  the  separation  of  the  Aryan  from  the  Finnic 
stock  cannot  well  have  been  less  than  6,000  years  ago,  and  it 
may  be  interesting  to  inquire,  in  conclusion,  what  linguistic 
science  teaches  us  as  to  the  common  element  of  civilisation  then 
possessed  by  the  undivided  people,  as  shown  by  the  culture 
words  common  to  the  Aryan  and  Finnic  languages,  and  which, 
because  of  their  wide  extension,  cannot  well  have  been  mere 
loan  words. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  verbal  roots  which  are  identical  in 
Aryan  and  Finnic,  it  will  have  been  noticed  that  from  identical 
roots,  wholly  different  words  have  been  formed  to  denote  the 
same  things.  Thus  from  the  root  kap  we  have  cap-ut  and  /ce(f>-a\r) 
in  Aryan,  and  kop-aska,  a  skull,  in  Finnic.  The  root  is  the  same, 
but  the  formatives  are  different.  From  the  root  kam  we  have 
cam-era  in  Aryan  and  kam-ma  in  Finnic.  From  the  root  kar 
we  have  gla-dius,  Jcur-as,  cur-ru,  kar-an,  cor-ade,  car-bes,  car- 
riage, ker-ap,  cul-mus,  and  korsi.  In  these  cases  the  words  seem 
to  have  been  formed  subsequently  to  the  separation  of  Finns 
and  Aryans. 

But  in  the  case  of  a  few  of  the  primary  necessaries  of  life, 
the  words  as  well  as  the  roots  are  the  same,  and  hence  we  may 
deduce  the  state  of  civilisation  arrived  at  before  the  separation. 

Assuming  that  the  Proto- Aryan  race  was  originated  in  a  cold 
climate,  shelter  must  have  been  imperative,  and  accordingly  from 
the  root  kat,  to  cover,  we  get  the  words  hut  and  cot  (Old  High 
German  huota,  Anglo-Saxon  cyt-a,  Old  Norse  kof).  Now  these 
words  run  through  the  whole  of  the  Finnic  languages,  Asiatic 
and  European,  so  that  they  cannot  be  Aryan  loan  words.  The 
word  for  a  house  or  dwelling  is  kot-a  in  Suomi,  kod-a  in  Esiho- 


266  CANON  TAYLOR. — TJie  Origin  and 

nian,  goat-te  in  Lapp,  kud-o  in  Mordwin,  kud-o  in  Tscheremis, 
kat  and  kuz  in  the  two  Ostiak  dialects,  haz  in  Magyar,  and  kot-o  in 
Mongolian. 

They  must  also  have  required  clothes,  and  from  the  same  root 
kat,  to  cover,  which  gives  us  the  root  for  the  primitive  hut  or 
cot,  we  get  the  Aryan  word  coat.  The  Finnic  languages  show 
that  the  primitive  people  were  clad  only  in  the  skins  of  animals, 
since  the  skin  or  hide  of  an  animal  is  kut  in  "Wotiak,  ked  in 
Mordwin,  and  kete  in  Suomi. 

If,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  they  possessed  domesticated 
animals  they  must  have  had  enclosures.  From  the  root  kar,  to 
surround  or  gird,  we  get,  with  the  formative  t,  that  which  girded 
or  surrounded.  We  have  such  words  as  yar-d,  gar-den,  and  hor- 
tus,  in  Aryan  languages,  while  in  Finnic  languages  a  garden  is 
kar-t  in  Suomi,  kdr-t  in  Magyar ;  kar-ta  is  a  cowbyre  in  Syria- 
nian,  a  farmyard  is  kar-ta  in  Ostiak  and  Wogul,  and  gar-dele, 
is  a  circle  in  Lapp. 

Their  domesticated  animals  seem  to  have  been  the  stag, 
which  is  eer-vus  in  Latin,  kar-w  in  Welsh,  har-t  in  English,  and 
hir-sch  in  German.  The  Finnic  languages  have  the  same  name 
for  the  stag  or  probably  for  the  reindeer.  A  stag  is  har-v  in 
Esthonian,  hir-vi  in  Suomi,  sar-v  in  Lapp,  and  szar-vas  in 
Magyar.  This  probably  meant  the  horned  one,  as  a  horn  is  sarvi 
in  Suomi,  szarv  in  Magyar,  and  cur  in  Tscheremis,  from  the  root 
kar,  to  be  hard.  The  connection  of  cervus  and  cornu,  hart,  hard, 
and  horn  is  thus  explained. 

The  goat  seems  also  to  have  been  domesticated.  It  is  caper, 
in  Latin,  and  hafr,  in  Old  Norse,  the  same  as  the  Finnic 
kapris  and  the  Lapp  habres,  all  from  the  root  kap,  common  to 
Aryan  and  Finnic,  meaning  to  move  to  and  fro,  and  hence  to 
jump. 

The  ox,  which  is  taurus  in  Latin,  and  tarw  in  Keltic,  is  tarwas 
in  Finnic,  but  this  is  probably  a  loan  word. 

The  pig,  which  is  porcus  in  Latin,  is  porsas  is  Esthonian,  puros 
or  pores  in  Ostiak,  pors  in  Syrianian,  boros  in  Wogul,  porzas  in 
Wotiak,  and  gurtz  in  Mordwin. 

With  the  Greek  iTriros  and  the  Keltic  epo-  we  may  com- 
pare the  Suomi  hepo,  and  the  Ostiak  kopta,  a  horse,  and  the 
SamoyecJ  habta,  an  ox,  and  the  Finnic  kdba,  a  horse's  hoof. 
These  seem  to  be  connected  with  the  Finnic  from  the  root  ^/hap 
to  speed,  haste. 

These  animals  were' not  only  kept  in  enclosures,  but  tended  by 
herdsmen,  as  appears  from  the  fact  that  a  shepherd  is  'noi^v 
in  Greek,  and  piema  (genitive  pemens)  in  Lithuanian,  and  paimcn 
in  Finnic. 

The  goose  is  xnv  in  Greek,  and  gas  in  Old  Norse,  Swedish, 


Primitive  Seat  of  the  Aryans.  267 

and  Eussian.  It  is  gaz  in  the  Tatar  languages,  and  hanhi  in 
Finnic. 

Of  the  metals  the  undivided  race  seem  to  have  known  gold 
and  copper,  the  two  metals  which  are  found  in  a  metallic 
state. 

All  through  the  Finnic  languages,  we  have  the  root  kol,  kil,  or 
Tail,  meaning  to  shine,  to  be  yellow.  It  is  seen  in  the  Tscheremis 
kul-a,  and  the  Finnic  kul-la,  yellow,  and  the  Esthonian  kul-u, 
yellow,  unmown  grass.  Hence  we  get  the  Suomi  kul-ta,  the 
Esthonian  kuld,  the  Lapp  golle,  which  means  gold,  and  the 
Samoyed  kola,  the  Tatar  kola  and  the  gule,  which  means  brass 
or  copper.  In  Aryan  languages,  we  have  the  same  name  from 
the  same  root  ghal,  to  be  green  or  yellow  (whence  the  Latin 
lutum),  or  gJutr,  to  shine.  Hence  the  Lithuanian  geltas,  yellow, 
and  the  Gothic  gulth,  gold.  It  is  possible  that  this  may  be  a 
loan  word,  but  if  so,  it  seems  to  have  been  a  Finnic  word 
borrowed  by  the  Aryans. 

As  for  copper  the  case  is  stronger.  No  Aryan  etymology  is 
known  for  the  Latin  ces,  the  Gothic  ais,  and  the  Sanskrit  ayas. 
But  the  root  seems  to  be  the  Turkic  \/as,  to  dig,  seen  in  the 
Tchagatai  es-mek,  and  the  Jakut  kas,  to  dig.  In  the  Finnic 
languages,  copper  is  vas-ki  in  Suomi,  vas  in  Old  Magyar,  and  air 
in  Lapp.  Ahlquist  remarks  that  the  name  for  copper  being  the 
same  among  the  Finns  and  eastern  Ugrians  is  a  proof  that  this 
metal  was  known  prior  to  the  separation  of  the  Finnic  race. 

The  Finnic  rauta,  iron,  was  probably  at  first  a  name  for  metal 
in  general.  In  Accadian  uruda  is  copper,  in  Pehlvi  rod  is 
bronze,  metal  is  ruda  in  Slavonic  and  Lithuanian,  which  may 
be  compared  with  the  Livonian  roda,  metal,  and  the  Suomi 
rauta,  iron. 

An  iron  sword  is  kareta  in  Irish  and  ker  in  Kurdish,  which 
are  probably  only  loan  words  from  the  Finnic.  In  Suomi  a 
dagger  is  karti,  and  a  knife  is  kuras.  Iron  is  karti  in  Ostiak, 
kort  in  Wotiak,  and  ker  in  Wogul,  which  come  from  the  Finnic 
root  </kar,  to  be  hard. 

That  the  sea  was  known  to  the  primitive  Aryans  appears 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  mira  in  Sanskrit,  mare  in  Latin,  mor  in 
Keltic,  morje,  in  Slavonic,  meer  in  German.  But  it  was  known 
to  the  undivided  Finnic  race  by  the  same  name.  We  have  meri 
in  Tschud,  merri  in  Esthonian,  mdrra  in  Lapp,  mora  in 
Syrianian,  morja  in  Wotiak,  and  more  in  Mordwin. 

The  Latin  in-sula,  and  the  Lithuanian  sala,  an  island,  have 
been  referred  to  the  Sanskrit  sara,  water.  A  more  probable 
etymology  is  the  Finnic  salo  and  saari,  the  Lapp  suolo,  and  the 
Livonian  sala.  This  seems  to  be  related  to  the  word  for  salt, 
which  runs  through  the  Finnic  languages.  We  have — 


268  CANON  TAYLOR. —  The  Origin  and 

Suomi  . .  . .  . .  suol-a. 

Veps     . .  . .  . .  sol-a. 

Estli      . .  . .  . .  sol. 

Lief      . .  . .  . .  suol. 

Syrianian  . .  . .  sol,  so. 

Permian  . .  . .  sol,  sov. 

Wotiak  . .  . .  sil-al. 

Mordwin  . .  . .  sal. 

Tscheremis  . .  . .  san-zal. 

Magyar  . .  . .  so. 

Ostiak  . .  . .  . .  sot. 

Wogul . .  . .  . .  sol-mi. 

Samoyed  . .  . .  ser,  silo,  salt. 

Dormer  (No.  724)  takes  it  from  \/sal,io  glitter,  white,  shining. 
The  word  sal  runs  through  the  Aryan  languages  of  Europe,  but 
not  of  Asia;  it  is  found  in  Latin,  Greek,  Teutonic,  Keltic,  and 
Slavonic. 

Fick  says  this  root  is  */sar  or  \/sal,  to  go,  and  connects  it 
with  ser-um,  milk,  and  sal,  island,  in  in-sula,  and  the  Sanskrit 
sara,  water,  milk.  But  surely  the  Finnic  etymology — white, 
glittering,  is  to  be  preferred. 

The  primitive  Aryans  possessed  ships  as  appears  from  the 
Sanskrit  nau,  the  Iranian  nave,  the  Greek  z/au<?,  the  Latin  navis, 
the  Keltic  nau,  but  this  word  does  not  appear  in  Finnic  lan- 
guages. The  German  kahn,  which  reappears  in  Old  Norse,  and 
in  Low  German,  seems  to  be  the  Finnic  kiina,  a  small  boat,  ap- 
parently derived  from  the  Finnic  kyna,  a  hollow  tree. 

Salmon  is  lohi  in  Finnic,  which  may  be  compared  with  the 
Russian  loch  and  the  German  lachs. 

Cheese  is  kus  in  Finnic,  probably  the  same  as  our  word  cheese, 
and  the  Latin  jus,  broth.  This  seems  to  show  that  the  cheese 
was  only  curds. 

The  Indian  soma,  Iranian  homa,  the  drink  of  the  gods,  may,  I 
think,  be  explained  by  the  Finnic  sima,  honey  or  mead.  In 
Magyar  som-joh  is  thirst,  in  Mordwin,  sem-an  is  to  drink,  and 
sim-ina  means  drunken.  In  Livonian  sdm  is  drunk,  and  sem-a 
is  milk. 

The  Aryan  Tcard,  beast,  may  be  compared  with  the  Finnic  root 
kar,  to  jump  or  spring. 

A  name  is  nim  in  Syrianian,  nimi  in  Suomi,  nem  in  Ostiak, 
and  nev  in  Magyar.  To  count  is  leg-ere  in  Latin,  and  luk-ea  in 
Finnic. 

With  the  Latin  candela  we  may  compare  the  Suomi  kiintela, 
the  Wotiak  kuntteli,  the  Lapp  kyndel.  and  the  Mordwin  sandal. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that   prior  to   the   separation   of  the 


Primitive  Seat  of  tlie  Aryans.  269 

Aryan  and  Finnic  races,  they  were  acquainted  with  copper  and 
probably  with  gold,  but  their  tools  were  chiefly  of  horn  or  stone. 
They  sheltered  themselves  in  huts,  and  were  clad  in  skins,  but 
there  is  no  evidence  that  they  possessed  the  art  of  weaving. 
They  knew  how  to  kindle  fire,  they  could  count  up  to  ten,  pos- 
sibly up  to  a  hundred.  They  had  personal  names,  while  family 
relationship  and  marriage  were  fully  recognised.  They  were 
acquainted  with  the  sea,  and  may  have  been  able  to  cross  lakes 
or  rivers  in  canoes  made  of  hollow  trees.  They  caught  salmon 
and  used  salt,  and  gathered  bitter  herbs  for  food,  or  more  pro- 
bably for  condiment.  It  does  not  appear  certain  that  they 
grew  grain  or  were  acquainted  with  the  rudiments  of  agriculture, 
the' name  of  the  Finnic  plough,  kar,  the  crooked  branch  of  a  tree, 
being  only  doubtfully  connected  with  the  name  of  the  Aryan 
plough.  They  collected  honey,  out  of  which  they  made  an  in- 
toxicating drink,  and  made  a  sort  of  soft  cheese,  like  curds. 
They  possessed  herds  of  domesticated  animals  which  were  tended 
by  herdsmen,  and  were  kept  in  fenced  enclosures.  These 
animals  were  probably  goats,  swine,  reindeer,  and  geese,  and 
possibly  oxen,  but  the  dog,  the  sheep,  and  the  horse  seem  to 
have  been  as  yet  untamed. 

In  conclusion  I  may  add  that  if  this  hypothesis,  as  to  the 
primitive  identity  of  the  Aryan  and  Finnic  races  be  finally  es- 
tablished, a  world  of  light  will  be  thrown  upon  many  difficulties 
as  to  the  primitive  significance  of  obscure  Aryan  roots  (salt, 
ces,  arare),  and  the  nature  of  the  primitive  Aryan  grammar. 

We  are  furnished,  in  fact,  with  a  new  and  powerful  instru- 
ment of  philological  investigation,  which  can  hardly  fail  to  yield 
important  results.  Comparative  Aryan  philology  must  be  pre- 
pared henceforth  to  take  account  of  the  Finnic  languages  as 
affording  the  oldest  materials  which  are  available  for  comparison. 

DISCUSSION. 

Prof.  KEANE  remarked  that  no  doubt  Canon  Taylor  had  ad- 
vanced some  striking  arguments  in  favour  of  a  Finnish,  descent  of 
the  first  Aryan-speaking  populations.  But  some  very  formidable 
difficulties  would  have  to  be  removed  before  that  theory  could  meet 
with  general  acceptance.  Much  stress  was  laid  on  the  fact  that 
the  Finns  were  physically  a  European  (Caucasic)  rather  than  an 
Asiatic  (Mongolic)  people,  and  the  suggestion  that  their  resem- 
blance to  the  surrounding  Teutonic  populations  might  be  due  to 
long  contact  and  gradual  assimilation  was  rejected  as  to  the  last 
degree  improbable.  But  within  the  Ural-Altaic  family  itself,  of 
which  the  Finns  have  hitherto  been  regarded  as  outlying  members, 
such  assimilation  had  actually  taken  place  in  comparatively  recent 
times.  Obvious  instances  were  the  Bulgarians,  Magyars,  and  Osmanli 

VOL.  XVII.  T 


270  Discussion. 

Turks,  some  of  whom  no  doubi  here  and  there  still  betrayed  traces 
of  their  Ugrian  and  Turkic  descent,  but  most  of  whom  were  now 
scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  ordinary  Europeans.  What, 
therefore,  had  happened  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula  arid  Hungary 
within  the  last  few  hundred  years  might  well  have  happened  in 
Finland  within  the  last  few  thousand  years,  during  which  we  now 
know  the  Suomi  people  have  been  in  close  contact  with  Norse  and 
other  Germanic  as  well  as  Slavonic  tribes.  For  a  long  time  large 
tracts  in  South  and  West  Finland,  where  the  population  is  chiefly 
centred,  have  been  occupied  by  Swedish  settlers,  and  the  Swedish 
language  is  even  still  current  along  the  seaboard  from  Abo  east- 
wards to  Wyborg,  and  northwards  to  Uleaborg.  For  ages  the  whole 
region  has  been  an  area  of  intense  intermingling,  which  has 
resulted  in  the  Tavastians,  or  western  Finns,  of  somewhat 
Germanic  type,  and  the  Karelians,  or  eastern  Finns,  more  nearly 
allied  to  the  Slavs.  The  primitive  Finnish  type  has  thus  been 
no  doubt  considerably  modified  in  Finland  itself,  and  even  in 
Lapland.  But  the  true  Mongolic  character  of  that  type  is  clearly 
revealed  in  their  eastern  neighbours  the  Samoyedes,  who  speak  a 
closely  related  language,  and  who,  being  less  exposed  to  invasion 
in  their  inhospitable  northern  homes,  have  far  better  preserved  the 
physical  features  of  the  common  original  stock.  It  should  also  be 
noted  that  these  features  may  still  be  detected  in  the  dirty  white, 
never  really  florid  complexion,  brachycephalous  head,  broad  face, 
large  mouth,  small  and  sometimes  even  oblique  eyes,  and  beardless 
face,  of  the  Quans  and  Ostrobothnians  of  Central  and  Northern 
Finland,  who  have  also  formed  some  isolated  settlements  in  Central 
Scandinavia.  With  regard  to  the  curious  theory  that  the  primitive 
Aryans  were  differentiated  from  the  Finnish  stock  by  a  process  of 
albinoism  in  the  marshy  lowlands  of  Central  Europe,  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  albinoism  is  essentially  a  morbid  affection, 
which,  if  due  to  unfavourable  conditions,  would  again  disappear  in 
a  more  salubrious  environment.  Hence,  the  feeble  white  Russians 
of  the  Rokytiio  swamps,  Poesche's  land  of  albinoism  in  a  pre- 
eminent sense,  become  as  vigorous  and  energetic  as  any  other  Slav 
people  when  removed  to  more  healthy  districts.  The  so-called 
"  albinoism  "  of  the  typical  Germanic  race,  the  finest  in  the  world, 
can  in  no  way  be  regarded  as  pathological,  and  was  certainly 
evolved,  not  in  the  sickly  Pinsk  marsh  lands,  but  in  the  invigo- 
rating atmosphere  of  some  breezy  upland  or  marine  region. 

Nor  does  Canon  Taylor's  philological  argument  seem  to  carry 
more  weight  than  that  based  on  anthropological  considerations. 
Notwithstanding  certain  points  of  resemblance,  chiefly  lexical,  a 
profound  abyss  si  ill  separates  the  Aryan  from  the  Ural-Altaic 
linguistic  family,  of  which  the  Finnic  is  confessedly  a  member. 
The  lexical  affinities  have  been  carefully  studied  by  W.  Thomsen, 
in  his  classical  work  "  Ueber  den  Einfluss  der  germanischen 
Sprachen  auf  die  finnisch  lappischen,"  and  this  eminent  Danish 
philologist  would  be  about  the  last  person  to  suggest  a  Finnish 
origin  for  the  Aryan  languages.  In  a  lecture  delivered  some  three 


Discussion.  271 

years  ago  in  Copenhagen  he  dwelt  more  directly  on  this  point, 
remarking  in  reference  to  Andersen's  well-known  "  Finnish  pro- 
clivities," that  it  was  open  to  anyone  to  assert  an  extremely  remote 
connection  of  Aryan  and  Finnic ;  but  although  these  languages 
might  be  perhaps  more  nearly  related  than  Aryan  and  Semitic, 
still  the  distance  was  so  great,  that  in  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge,  the  relation  could  neither  be  affirmed  nor  denied.  The 
theory  was  a  pure  hypothesis  of  no  scientific  value,  because  based 
on  no  solid  groundwork  of  fact.  Certainly  this  groundwork, 
which  specialists  such  as  Thomson  and  Winkler  have  failed  to 
discover,  has  not  been  supplied  by  Canon  Taylor's  verbal  com- 
parisons, made  before  even  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  establish  a 
common  Finno- Aryan  system  of  Lautverschiebung.  Winkler,  whose 
monumental  work  on  the  Ural-Altaic  races  and  languages  is  still 
in  progress,  distinctly  asserts  that,  even  in  its  present  advanced 
state,  Finnish  can  in  no  way  be  regarded  as  an  inflecting  language. 
The  point  has  been  so  much  discussed,  and  is  of  so  much  im- 
portance in  the  present  connection,  that  it  may  be  well  to  quote  his 
very  words  :  "  Meine  Ansichten  werden  sich  im  Fortgange  ergehen, 
so  namentlich  dass  ich  nicht  entfernt  die  finnischen  Sprachen  fur 
flexivische  halten  kann  "  ("  Uralaltaische  Volker,"  I,  p.  54).  But 
if  Finnish  has  not  even  yet  approached  the  inflecting  state,  what 
was  its  condition  some  5,000  or  6,000  years  ago,  the  period  to  which 
Canon  Taylor  refers  the  separation  of  the  Finnic  and  Aryan 
stocks  ?  And  can  it  be  for  a  moment  supposed  that,  starting  from 
such  crude  beginnings,  it  had  time  to  develop  into  the  highly 
inflecting  organic  Aryan  speech,  which  had  itself  already  become 
differentiated  into  the  Indian,  Iranian,  Hellenic,  Italic,  and  other 
well  marked  groups,  such  as  we  find  them  at  the  very  dawn  of. 
history?  [t  should  be  observed  that  throughout  the  whole  of  their 
historic  life,  the  Finno- Tatar  and  Aryan  languages  have  been 
pursuing  two  opposite  lines  of  development,  the  former  ascending 
from  rude  agglutination  in  the  direction  of  inflection,  the  latter 
descending  from  the  very  highest  forms  of  inflection  down  to  the 
analytic  state,  as  illustrated,  for  instance,  in  English,  Danish,  and 
Persian.  This  disintegrating  process  must  certainly  have  been 
going  on  for  a  much  longer  period  than  Canon  Taylor's  5,000  or 
6,000  years,  as  must  be  obvious  when  we  remember  the  profound 
differences  already  separating  the  Keltic,  Italic,  Teutonic,  and 
other  branches  upwards  of  2,000  years  ago.  Consequently  at  the 
assumed  date  of  the  Finno- Aryan  dispersion  the  Finnish  was  in  a 
very  low  state  of  agglutination,  while  the  Aryan  was  much  more 
highly  inflected  even  than  any  of  its  present  representatives,  as 
known  to  us  in  their  most  archaic  forms.  It  follows  that  Canon 
Taylor  allows  absolutely  no  time  at  all  for  the  tremendous  tran- 
sition from  the  agglutinating  Finnish  to  the  inflecting  Aryan  form 
of  speech,  as  postulated  by  his  or  Andersen's  theory. 

Then  we  are  asked  to  believe  that  the  Slavs  are  mainly 
Aryanised  Ugrians,  and  the  South  Europeans  Aryanised  Iberians, 
which  only  intensifies  the  difficulties  standing  in  the  way  of  this 

T  2 


272  Discussion. 

theory.  For,  although  not  intrinsically  impossible,  such  startling 
transformations  could  not  be  effected  in  a  moment  by  a  touch  of 
the  magician's  wand,  but  would  require  a  vast  period  of  time, 
which  is  precisely  the  very  factor  Canon  Taylor  suicidically 
eliminates  from  his  hypothesis.  The  Slavs  are  not  merely 
Aryanised  in  speech,  but,  if  originally  Ugrian  Finns,  they  have 
most  of  them  long  become  almost  typical  Europeans  in  their 
physical  features  ;  for  it  would  be  difficult  to  discover  in  Western 
Europe  more  regular  features,  more  finely  modelled  heads  than 
those  which  we  currently  meet,  even  amongst  the  peasantry  in 
Montenegro,  Servia,  Croatia,  Poland,  Bohemia,  and  many  parts  of 
Russia.  All  these  Sarmatians  were  2,000  years  ago  as  distinct  as 
they  now  are  from  the  surrounding  Scythian  populations,  so  that 
the  hypothesis  allows  at  the  very  utmost  only  4.000  years  to  effect 
the  astounding  transformation  from  an  Ugrian  Finn,  or,  say,  from  a 
Wogul  or  an  Ostyak,  to  the  ideally  beautiful  Caucasic  type.  Such 
a  transition  might  no  doubt  be  brought  about  by  the  absorption  of  a 
few  Ugrians  in  a  large  mass  of  Western  Aryans.  But  the  assumed 
process  was  all  the  other  way,  the  great  body  of  the  "  Ugrian 
Slavs"  being  supposed  to  be  Aryanised  by  a  few  "  Finno-  Aryan  " 
conquerors  from  the  region  between  the  Rhine  and  Vistula,  where 
we  are  told  the  Finns  were  originally  transformed  to  Aryans  in 
speech  and  type.  Thus,  from  whatever  point  of  view  the  theory 
is  approached,  it  seems  to  fade  away  from  the  safe  ground  of  fact 
into  the  airy  region  of  doubtful  or  untenable  hypothesis. 

ME.  BouvERiE-PusEY  remarked  in  reference  to  an  observation  by 
Prof.  Keane  on  the  Bulgarians,  that  the  Bulgarian  peasantry  of 
the  neighbourhood  of  Sofia  seen  by  the  speaker  last  year,  closely 
resembled  in  their  features  the  Chinese. 


Mr.  STUART  GLENN  IE  said  that  according  to  Retzius, 
Kranier  (1878),  two  distinct  types  were  to  be  distinguished  among 
the  Finlanders,  a  dark  and  a  fair  type  ;  and  this  fair  element 
Quatrefages  connects  with  those  non-Semitic  and  non-Aryan 
white  races  to  which  he  has  given  the  name  of  Allophyllian,  but 
which  might,  perhaps,  be  preferably  named  Archaian,  if  races  of 
this  stock  are  found  to  have  been  the  initiators  of  the  archaic 
civilisations  that  preceded  the  Semitic  and  Aryan  civilisations. 
From  such  a  white  race  Mr.  Stuart  Grlennie  thought  that  it  might 
be  found  possible  to  show  that  the  Aryans  were  derived,  though  he 
could  not  accept  their  derivation  from  a  race  of  the  Turanian 
stock.  He  would  add  that,  raised  as  the  Kelts  now  undoubtedly 
are,  he  questioned  very  much  whether  their  claim  to  be  considered 
as  a  primitive,  or  the  primitive  Aryan  race  could  be  justly  set 
aside  so  summarily  as  by  Penka  in  favour  of  the  Scandinavians. 

Mr.  HYDE  CLARKE  writes,  that  seeing  so  many  visitors  were  pre- 
sent, whom  it  WHS  desirable  to  hear,  he  reserved  his  remarks  for 
the  Journal.  He  considered  that  the  paper  of  Canon  Taylor 
opened  up  the  question  of  the  relations  of  comparative  philology 
with  anthropological  science  generally.  Those  relations  are  of  a 


Discussion.  273 

most  unsatisfactory  character,  and  this  was  illustrated  by  the 
Canon,  for  his  allegations  were  not  such  as  to  command  the 
adhesion  of  the  naturalists  present.  He  leaned  on  authority, 
instead  of  depending  on  facts  open  to  every  observer,  as  in  other 
departments  of  natural  science.  Nevertheless,  he  stated  that  the 
authorities  had  been  altogether  wrong  on  this  Aryan  question,  and 
were  now  to  be  abandoned.  With  a  colleague  he  had  adhered  to 
the  proto-prophet  of  Aryanism  in  this  country  until  two  years  ago. 
They  now  proposed  to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  some  other 
authorities  in  Germany,  for  whose  accuracy  he  vouched,  and  for 
whom  he  solicited  implicit  credence,  though  the  two  chief  ex- 
ponents of  the  new  version  of  Aryanism  do  not  agree  with  each 
other.  It  might  have  been  hoped  that  dependence  on  authorities 
had  ceased  in  every  branch  of  science.  The  new  scheme  of 
Aryanism  only  amounts  to  a  shifting  of  the  scenery  of  the  old 
theory  at  a  moment  when  by  an  accumulation  of  evidence  it  has 
been  condemned.  The  departing  Aryanism  with  its  philology  and 
mythology  depends  on  the  myth  of  a  proto- Aryan  language.  For 
this  is  substituted  another  speculation  of  a  pre-historic  union  of 
the  proto- Ay  ran  and  the  proto-Finnish  languages,  for  we  may 
for  the  time  dismiss  points  as  to  race.  The  evidence  in  sup- 
port of  this  speculation  is  altogether  valueless,  because  it  will 
prove  many  other  various  propositions.  Such  a  union  of  Indo- 
European  and  Finnic  does  not  necessarily  imply  a  union  with  the 
whole  body  of  the  Altaic  languages,  because  such  a  class  as  Altaic 
is  an  artificial  classification  when  regarded  practically.  It  would, 
however,  embody  Finnic  even  to  Magyar,  and  most  probably  a 
large  mass  of  languages  in  the  Himalayas.1  Such  a  union  would  be 
attended  by  a  confusion  of  languages,  races  and  historical  incidents 
causing  still  greater  difficulties  in  obtaining  a  clear  solution.  The 
lately  dominant  philology  of  the  authorities  was  a  survival 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Semitic  archetype  of  language,  having 
in  alliance  the  later  invention  of  Sanskritism,  as  another  pre- 
eminent type.  To  study  a  Semitic  grammar  or  a  Sanskrit 
grammar  gave  the  title  of  scholarship  and  of  the  doctorate. 
All  else  was  outside  the  sacred  bounds.  The  course  of  events 
in  England  and  France  has  brought  about  a  revolution.  Chinese 
studies  have  maintained  and  assorted  their  independence  and 
dignity.  The  establishment  of  the  philology  of  the  Dravidian 
languages  by  Bishop  Caldwell  and  our  other  Indian  scholars  has 
created  another  domain.  The  attention  which  has  been  bestowed 
on  the  promotion  of  Egyptian  and  cuneiform  investigations  has 
most  materially  influenced  the  minds  of  the  learned,  notwith- 
standing the  dogged  resistance  of  the  authorities  to  the  results  of 
discovery.  The  labours  of  Bleek  in  Bantu ;  of  our  missionaries  in 
Australasian  and  Polynesian  languages  ;  and  of  American  men  of 
science  in  the  Indian  languages,  have  all  contributed  to  attract 

1  "  Himalayan  Connections  of  the  Magyar,"  by  Hyde  Clarke,  in  "  Journ. 
Anthrop.  Inst." 


274  Discussion. 

notice  to  the  despised  "  Turanian."  Not  the  least  among  the 
operative  influences  have  been  the  exertions  during  a  long  genera- 
tion of  our  two  Societies,  and  the  Anthropological  Institute,  which 
now  exists  in  their  union.  The  Institute  has  always  recognised 
philology  as  a  legitimate  branch  of  anthropology,  and  has  been 
the  means  of  publishing  papers,  and  of  stimulating  researches, 
which  have  brought  forward  much  new  evidence,  registered  in  our 
journals,  on  languages,  and  on  collateral  information  relative  to 
them,  which  were  new  to  inquirers.  Prof.  Huxley,  during 
his  Presidency,  induced  that  remarkable  scholar  Dr.  Bleek  to 
contribute  to  our  pages,  and  his  writings  may  be  usefully  referred 
to  in  their  bearing  on  the  Canon's  conclusions.  Upon  the  Aryan 
problem  contributions  will  also  be  found  in  our  volumes.  So 
far  from  its  being  the  case  that  the  philologists  of  Germany  are 
enrolled  in  support  of  his  phase  of  Aryanism,  the  school  of 
"new  philology  "  has  organised  itself  under  direction  of  Dr.  Carl 
Abel  and  other  eminent  leaders  ;  last  year  was  held  the  first  Con- 
ference, and  this  year  the  second.  Indeed,  beyond  its  influence 
in  the  special  study  of  Sanskrit,  Aryanism  is  not  now  regarded  as 
a  reigning  power.  Canon  Taylor  has  marshalled  a  large  number 
of  cases  to  show  the  connexion  of  Indo-European  and  Finnic,  and 
most  of  these  may  be  admitted  without  accepting  his  conclusions. 
They  relate  to  incidents  which  result  from  the  original  laws  of  the 
formation  of  language,  or  to  what  may  be  found  in  many  other 
languages  besides  Indo-European  and  Finnic.  One  great  cause  of 
the  present  backward  condition  of  authoritative  philology  is  the  pre- 
ference of  its  scholastic  votaries  for  grammatical  construction  and 
the  neglect  of  words,  which  should  be  the  primary  study.  Thus 
languages  are  classified  by  grammatical  peculiarities,  which,  after 
all,  are  not  typical  or  characteristic.  The  Altaic  languages  are 
brought  together  from  several  groups,  which  have  no  connection 
of  words.  In  the  Turkic  group  a  man  may,  with  little  practice, 
work  his  way  among  a  number  of  tribes  from  the  European 
frontier  to  that  of  China,  but  this  will  not  help  him  with  Magyar, 
Mongol,  or  Manchoo,  any  more  than  with  Japanese  or  Korean, 
which  it  is  now  proposed  to  throw  into  the  class.  The  elements  of 
comparative  philology  are  to  be  found  in  manuals,  and  those 
which  are  sufficient  are  very  cheap,  but  little  attention  is  paid  to 
facts,  and  much  to  imagination.  Philology  and  psychology,  as 
branches  of  anthropology,  are,  indeed,  much  in  the  same  condition. 
To  place  the  Aryans  in  Central  or  Eastern  Europe,  or  in  Scan- 
dinavia, for  thousands  of  years,  is  to  create  a  difficulty  in  the  working 
of  such  incidents  and  events  as  we  can  discern.  We  should  have  to 
admit  that  they  allowed  the  Iberians  to  act  in  those  regions  and  to 
control  the  neighbouring  countries  of  Europe.  We  must  suppose  that 
until  a  measurable  historical  period  they  let  Hellas  and  Italy  alone, 
even  if  there  in  the  first  instance  they  effected  a  forcible  invasion. 
We  know  that  contemporaneously  they  occupied  Persia  and  pene- 
trated into  India.  At  a  very  late  period  alone  the  central  body  of 
the  Aryans  are  to  be  supposed  to  have  assailed  the  Roman  Empire. 


Discussion.  275 

Apart  from  purely  anthropological  considerations,  the  historical 
relations  are  most  unfavourable  to  the  hypothesis  upon  which 
dependence  is  now  placed,  and  which  are  less  plausible  than  the 
High  Asia  doctrine.  In  the  whole  matter  we  are  called  upon  to 
assume  that  the  white  races  first  entered  on  the  scene  when  they 
were  albinoised  in  White  Russia,  when  we  know  that  the  Aryan 
epoch  is  only  one  late  movement  of  the  white  races.  If  we  cannot 
as  yet  positively  identify  the  originators  and  propagators  of  speech, 
and  the  culture  connected  with  it,  as  white  races,  or  the  intro- 
ducers of  culture  into  Egypt  as  such,  we  are  compelled  to  suspend 
our  judgment  in  this  consideration  by  the  formation  of  the  great 
historical  empires  of  antiquity  by  Turanian  whites,  and  the  exten- 
sive remains  we  still  have  of  white  races.  The  Persian  popu- 
lation is  that  which  was  there  before  the  Aryans,  and  the  Georgian 
nations,  speaking  highly  organised  languages,  now  disguised  as 
Alarodian,  have  been  before  now  adopted  as  typical  whites.  Then 
there  are  those  remains  of  white  populations  in  the  central  chains 
of  Asia  referred  to  by  Mr.  Stuart  Glennie,  some  of  which  speak 
dialects  approaching  Indo-European  ;  but  some,  like  the  Lolos, 
retain  what  is  called  Turanian  culture.  In  considering  possible 
centres  of  the  white  migration,  many  circumstances  should  induce 
us  not  to  neglect  High  Africa.  The  data  of  Canon  Taylor  and 
others  as  to  the  culture  of  the  imaginary  proto-Aryans  and  proto- 
Finns  are  simply  philological,  and  as  such  require  to  be  compared 
with  the  body  of  the  vocabularies  of  Africa  and  America,  when  it 
will  be  found  that  the  special  conditions  relied  upon  cannot  be 
sustained,  and  are  applicable  to  many  populations.  The  argument 
founded  upon  numerals  is  also  weak,  and  requires  correlation  with 
the  main  body  of  data,  as  numerals  are  of  less  value  for  determi- 
nation than  philologists  have  assumed.  Indeed  generalisations 
from  a  specialised  class  must,  as  in  other  departments  of  nature, 
be  examined  under  the  whole  body  of  evidence  to  constitute  real 
and  operative  generalisations.  The  Canon  has  brought  forward 
M,  T,  and  S,  as  decisive  indices  of  the  common  origin  of  Indo- 
European  and  Finnic  as  pronominal  terminations  in  inflection. 
The  Canon  knows  that  M,  T,.and  S  figure  strongly  in  Semitic 
formations,  and  he  may  be  reminded  that  they  play  their  part  in 
the  Bantu  and  in  the  Georgian.  It  is  requisite  therefore  to  use 
caution  in  depending  upon  them  in  the  instances  cited,  and  so 
with  many  examples.  The  reason  why  Mr.  Clarke  has  gone  more 
fully  into  the  general  considerations  is  with  the  desire  to  call 
attention  to  the  present  condition  of  philology  at  this  period  of 
transition,  as  much  as  to  Canon  Taylor's  paper  as  an  exemplifica- 
tion, and  in  the  hope  that  the  scientific  study  of  philology  may  be 
promoted. 


276 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MISCELLANEA. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  HUMAN  HORDE. 

MR.  G.  L.  Gomme,  in  his  suggestive  paper  printed  in  the  Journal 
of  the  Institute  for  November  last  (p.  118)  states  that  the  hypothesis 
there  stated  is  put  forward  for  consideration,  and  as  I  take  especial 
interest  in  the  subject  discussed,  and  Mr.  Gbmme  refers  to  a  paper 
of  mine,  I  propose  to  critically  examine  the  evidence  he  furnishes 
in  support  of  his  hypothesis.  Before  doing  so,  however,  it  may  be 
as  well  to  see  what  is  meant  by  "  primitive  human  horde."  The 
idea,  if  not  the  phrase,  is  that  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  F.  McLennan,  and 
it  is  necessary  that  we  should  know  exactly  what  we  are  intended 
to  understand  by  it.  The  term  horde  is  used  by  this  distinguished 
writer  to  denote  a  "primitive  group"  ("  Studies  in  Ancient 
History,"  p.  133),  and  it  may  be  explained  by  the  expression 
"  the  earliest  human  groups  "  (p.  121).  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that 
before  we  can  attach  any  definite  meaning  to  that  term,  we  must 
ascertain  the  characteristics  of  the  "  primitive  group."  They  are 
as  follows : — 

(a.)  The  absence  of  any  idea  of  kinship,  and  at  first  of  consan- 
guinity, although  the  latter  idea  would  gradually  be  formed 
and  give  rise  to  the  conception  of  stocks  (p.  121). 

(6.)  Homogeneousness — that  is,  all  the  members  of  a  group 
belong  to  the  same  stock  (p.  183). 

(c.)  Promiscuity  in  the  sexual  relations  (p.  134). 

(d.)  Uncertainty  of  paternity,  with  kinship  through  females 
only  gradually  recognised  (pp.  124-5). 

(e.)  Female  infanticide,  with  scarcity  and  capture  of  women 
(pp.  132-3),  resulting  in — 

(/.)  Exogamy. 

We  need  say  nothing  about  the  "  modification  of  promiscuity"  to 
which  Dr.  McLennan  gives  the  title  of  the  "  ruder  species  of 
polyandry,"  or  the  less  rude  polyandry  which  was  developed  by  the 
help  of  the  system  of  kinship  through  females  only  (p.  138). 

When  a  "primitive  human  horde  "  is  spoken  of  as  equivalent  to 
the  "primitive  group  "  or  horde  of  Dr.  McLennan,  it  must  be  sup- 
posed that  the  former  has  all  the  characteristics  of  the  latter. 
When  we  examine  Mr.  Gomme's  system,  however,  we  find  it  is  not 
so.  The  characteristics  of  his  primitive  horde  are  as  follows  : — 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  277 

(a.)  Recognition  by  natural  instinct   of   connection    between 

parents  and  children,  although  quickly  lost,  and  not  used 

for  political  purposes  (p.  122). 
(6.)  Possession  of   a  totem  system  or   the  germs  of  such  a 

system,  with  exogamy  (pp.  127,  131). 
(c.)  Temporary  monandry ;  no  evidence  of  "  utter  promiscuity" 

(pp.  121-2). 
(d.)  Certainty  of   paternity  and  maternity,    but   recognition 

only  temporary  induration  and  quickly  lost  (p.  122). 
(e.)  Infanticide  did  not  produce  scarcity  of  females  (p.  131), 

nor,  by  inference,  lead  to  capture  of  women. 

To  these  conclusions  may  be  added  that  an  artificially  formed 
organisation  based  on  kinship  was  developed  among  migratory 
hordes,  who  came  into  conflict  with  preceding  hordes,  and  that, 
owing  to  scarcity  of  women,  polyandry  arose  among  the  former,  in. 
combination  with  descent  through  females  (pp.  131-2). 

The  characteristics  of  Mr.  Gomme's  "primitive  horde"  are 
clearly  very  different  from  those  of  Dr.  McLennan's  "  primitive 
group."  The  essential  features  of  the  latter  are  promiscuity  in  the 
sexual  relations,  absence  of  the  idea  of  kinship,  uncertainty  of 
paternity,  and  female  infanticide,  causing  scarcity  of  women  and 
consequent  capture,  i'eatures  which  are  absent  from  the  former. 
Y/hen  Mr.  Gomme  says  there  is  "  no  excuse  for  using  the  term 
'utter  promiscuity,'"  and  "no  reason  again  to  suppose  that 
paternity  was  uncertain,  and  was,  therefore,  incapable  of  being 
recognised"  (p.  122),  he  cuts  away  the  basis  of  Dr.  McLennan's 
theory.  On  the  other  hand,  according  to  Mr.  Gomme's  hypothesis, 
"  the  primitive  human  horde  was  kept  together  by  outside  forces, 
not  by  internal  arrangements  "  (p. 125),  which  is  hardly  consistent 
with  Dr.  McLennan's  statement'  that,  though  a  group  of  kindred 
in  the  rudest  stage  "  were  chiefly  held  together  by  the  feeling  of 
kindred,  the  apparent  bond  of  fellowship  between  the  members  of 
such  a  group  would  be  that  they  and  theirs  had  always  been  com- 
panions in  war  or  the  chase — joint  tenants  of  the  same  cave  or 
grove."  Again  Dr.  McLennan  says  (p.  129)  "  It  is  inconceivable 
that  anything  but  the  want  of  certainty  on  that  point  (paternity) 
would  have  prevented  the  acknowledgement  of  kinship  through 
males,"  a  statement  which  in  advance  condemns  Mr.  Gomme's 
hypothesis ;  for  this  supposes  that  in  the  primitive  human  horde 
"both  paternity  and  maternity  were  certain,  and  they  were  fully 
recognised,"  although  kiuship  through  females  was  the  earliest  to 
be  originated,  and  was  so  only  in  a  migrating  horde  as  the  result  of 
conflict  with  a  primitive  horde. 

So  far,  then,  from  Mr.  Gomme  having  supplied  evidence  in 
support  of  Dr.  McLennan's  theory  of  the  primitive  group  or  horde, 
he  has  formulated  something  quite  different.  Let  us  now  examine 

1  "  Studies,"  page  122,  Mr.  Gomme  quotes  a  portion  of  this  passage  in  support 
of  his  view  of  "  outside  forces,"  but  unfortunately  he  omits  all  the  words  before 
"  fellowship." 


278  Anthropological  Miscdlanea. 

the  arguments  by  which  his  hypothesis  is  supported.  Mr.  Gomme's 
primitive  horde  consists  of  a  group  of  individuals  whose  sexual 
relations  were  those  of  "  temporary  monandry,"  in  which  a  man 
choses  a  woman  and  is  husband  to  her  "  just  so  long  as  offspring  is 
begotten  and  requires  protection."  As  soon  as  the  offspring  were 
capable  of  taking  care  of  themselves  the  parental  tie  was  snapped 
and  the  relationship  ceased  to  be  recognised.  This  group  of  indi- 
viduals possessed  or  developed  the  principles  of  totemism  and 
exogamy,  and  was  kept  together  (1)  by  "a  totem  organisation  and 
not  a  blood  tie  ; "  and  (2)  by  "  the  accumulated  and  accumulating 
fears  of  the  dangers  that  surrounded  them,"  which  fears  found  their 
ultimate  expression  in  a  system  of  nature  worship,  and  not  by 
"  internal  arrangements."  Mr.  Gomme  remarks  that  it  is  impossible 
to  conceive  that  the  union  of  parents  would  continue  after  the 
offspring  were  capable  of  taking  care  of  themselves,  and  in  a  note 
he  affirms  that  "  many  examples  exist  in  savage  society  where  the 
parents  separate  after  the  birth  of  a  child  "  (p.  122).  It  is  a  pity 
some  of  these  examples  are  not  given.  As  a  case  in  point  I  would 
refer  to  the  statement  of  Sir  JBd.  Belcher'  in  relation  to  the 
Andamanese,  of  whom  it  is  said  that  a  man  and  woman  separate  as 
a  matter  of  course  when  their  child  is  weaned,  and  each  seeks  a  new 
partner.  This  is,  however,  so  entirely  opposed  to  the  actual  facts 
as  now  made  known  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Man,  that  we  ought  to  be  on  our 
guard  against  accepting  casual  observations  of  the  social  customs 
of  savages  until  they  have  been  verified  by  careful  research  by 
competent  enquirers.  Mr.  Man's  testimony  as  to  marriage  among 
the  Andamanese  is  that  "  so  far  from  the  contract  being  regarded 
as  a  merely  temporary  arrangement,  to  be  set  aside  at  the  will  of 
either  party,  no  incompatibility  of  temper  or  other  cause  is  allowed 
to  dissolve  the  union,  and  while  bigamy,  polygyny,  polyandry,  and 
divorce  are  unknown,  conjugal  fidelity  until  death  is  not  the 
exception  but  the  rule  "  ("  Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst.,"  Vol.  xii,  p.  135.) 
The  only  systematic  use  of  "temporary  monogamy"  I  am 
acquainted  with — isolated  cases  are  almost  valueless  for  the  pur- 
poses of  a  general  argument— is  that  recognisd  by  the  natives  of 
North  America,  who,  when  first  visited  by  Europeans,  had  what 
Mr.  Lewis  Morgan  calls  ("  Ancient  Society,"  p.  453)  the  syndyas- 
mian  or  pairing  family.  This  family  was  founded  upon  marriage 
between  single  pairs  and  possessed  some  of  the  characteristics  of 
the  monogamian  family,  although  the  marriage  was  a  matter  of 
convenience  and  necessity,  rather  than  of  sentiment,  and  it  con- 
tinued only  during  the  will  of  the  parties.  The  husband  "  could 
put  away  his  wife  at  pleasure,  and  take  another  without  offence, 
and  the  woman  enjoyed  the  equal  right  of  leaving  her  husband  and 
accepting  another,  in  which  the  usages  of  her  tribe  and  gens  were 
not  infringed."  Not  only  have  the  American  aborigines  this  simple 
pairing  family,  but,  like  Mr.  Gomme's  primitive  horde,  they  possess 

1  Curiously  enough,  Sir  John  Lubbock  cites  this  case  as  an  instance  of  "  com- 
munal marriage." — "  Origin  of  Civilisation,"  3rd  ed.,  page  82. 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  279 

the  principles  of  totemism  and  exogamy.  Their  institutions  may, 
indeed,  be  said  to  be  based  on  totemism,  for  the  totem  is  the 
symbol  of  the  gens,  and  they  possess  the  gentile  institution,  or,  as 
it  was  named  by  Schoolcraft,  the  totemic  institution,  fully 
developed.  The  gens  is  said  by  Morgan  (p.  63)  to  have  been  "the 
instrumentality  by  means  of  which  society  was  organised  and  held 
together."  It  answers,  therefore,  to  the  totem  organisation  which 
kept  together  Mr.  Gomme's  primitive  horde,  and  we  may  assume 
that  the  latter  was  based  on  the  same  ideas  as  the  gens. 

This  is  an  important  conclusion,  for  the  gens  came  into  being 
upon  three  principal  conceptions — the  bond  of  kin,  a  pure  lineage 
through  descent  in  the  female  line,  and  non-marriage  in  the  gens. 
One  of  its  obligations  is  not  to  marry  in  the  gens,  and  from  it 
springs  the  practice  of  exogamy.  The  existence  of  the  totem 
organisation  in  the  primitive  horde  would  thus  require  it  to  have 
been  bound  together  by  the  ties  of  kin,  and  the  practice  of 
exogamy  proves  not  only  that  kinship  was  fully  recognised,  but 
that  it  had  such  a  binding  force.  When,  therefore,  Mr.  Gomme 
states  that  "  the  horde  possessed,  or  had  developed,  the  principles 
of  totemism  and  exogamy,"  it  is  equivalent  to  admitting  that  the 
primitive  group  consisted  of  persons  related  by  blood,  who  were 
not  allowed  to  intermarry,  and  who,  like  the  members  of  the  gens, 
were  bound  together  by  the  ties  of  kinship. 

The  earliest  American  gentes  appear  to  have  preferred  descent 
in  the  female  line,  and  as  women  lived  with  their  children  among 
their  husband's  relations,  each  gens  had  members  in  more  than 
one  tribe.  It  is  clear  that  in  such  a  case  the  influence  of  the 
"  outside  forces  "  referred  to  by  Mr.  Gomme,  would  not  suffice  to 
keep  the  group  together.  With  descent  in  the  male  line  the  result 
might  be  different,  and  so,  also,  where,  with  descent  in  the  female 
line,  the  wife'and  her  offspring  reside  with  her  kindred.  This  was 
probably  the  case  among  the  early  Arabs,  and  the  Arab  tribe  may 
be  said  to  answer  as  nearly  as  possible  in  most  respects  to 
Mr.  Gomme's  primitive  horde.  Unfortunately,  however,  for  his 
hypothesis,  Prof.  Robertson  Smith,  who  accepts  Dr.  McLennan's 
views  as  to  the  early  society,  affirms  ("  Kinship  and  Marriage  in 
Early  Arabia,"  p.  22)  that  "  the  tribal  bond  all  over  Arabia,  so  far 
as  our  evidence  goes,  was  conceived  as  a  bond  of  kinship.  All  the 
members  of  a  group  regarded  themselves  as  of  one  blood."  Else- 
where (p.  227)  Prof.  Smith  declares  that  "common  blood,  as  indi- 
cated by  the  common  totem,  is  the  only  permanent  bond  of  union, 
and  manifests  itself  as  such  whenever  a  blood-feud  arises." 

Mr.  Gomme  endeavours,  however,  to  place  his  hypothesis  on  the 
basis  of  fact,  and  he  refers  to  a  people  of  Central  (?)  Asia,  the 
Abors  of  Assam,  as  affording  "the  most  singular  specimen  of  the 
primitive  horde,  both  in  respect  of  the  external  forces  which  keep 
it  together,  and  of  the  internal  organisation  which  regulates  the 
conduct  of  individuals  to  one  another  "  (p.  127).  Those  forces  are 
said  to  be  so  potent  that  Abor  life  must  "  depend  almost  entirely 
upon  local,  not  personal  influences,"  and  they  are  aided  in  keeping 


280  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

together  the  group  by  the  totem  system,  which,  however,  has  not 
yet  been  discovered,  although  it  is  thought,  by  analogy  to  the  case 
of  the  neighbouring  Khasias,  to  exist  within  the  Ab.tr  group.  We 
have  seen  that  the  totem  is  the  symbol  of  a  gens  based  on  the  bond 
of  kin,  but  Mr.  Gomme  mentions,  as  a  definite  fact,  "  which  goes 
far  to  establishing  the  theory  that  they  represent  a  type  of  the 
primitive  horde,"  that,  although  externally  the  Abors  make  up  one 
group,  "  internally  there  are  no  traces  of  the  cohesion  resulting 
from  the  ties  of  recognised  kinship."  What  is  the  evidence 
furnished  in  support  of  this  assertion  ?  Mr.  Gomme  deplores  that 
minute  examination  of  the  social  system  of  the  Abors  has  not  been 
made,  but  he  tells  us  that  "  they  are  like  tigers — two  cannot  d\vell 
in  one  den ;  and  their  houses  are  scattered  singly,  or  in  groups  of 
two  or  three  over  the  immense  extent  of  mountainous  country 
occupied  by  them ;  "  and  that  whenever  a  few  families  of  Abors 
have  united  into  a  society,  the  community  is  soon  broken  up  by 
fierce  feuds  and  summary  vengeance.  But,  surely,  if  these  are 
facts  they  do  not  warrant  the  conclusion  that  the  Abors  are 
"  entirely  free  from  the  ties  of  kinship." 

Mr.  Gomme  finds  a  close  parallel  between  this  people  and  the 
Cyclopes,  and,  notwithstanding  their  complete  geographical  and 
chronological  discontinuity,  supposes  them  to  "  belong  to  an  epoch 
in  human  history  which  witnessed  the  continuous  population  of  this 
long  stretch  of  territory  by  groups  of  the  Abor  and  Cyclop  type." 
Homer's  language  about  the  Cyclopes  is  said  to  furnish  a  short 
summary  of  the  social  condition  of  the  Abors.  This  people  must, 
therefore,  be  "  a  lawless  folk,  who  plant  not  aught  with  their  hands 
neither  plough,"  and  they  can  have  "  neither  gatherings  for 
•••ouncil  nor  oracles  of  law,"  but  they  dwell  in  hollow  caves  and 
"  reck  not  one  of  another,"  denoting  that  they  were  not  bound 
together  by  the  tie  of  recognised  kinship  (p.  128).  Now,  what  are 
the  actual  facts  ?  Mr.  H.  R.  Rowney,  who  mentions  that  the 
Abors  cannot  live  peacefully  alongside  of  each  other,  states  ("Wild 
Tribes  of  India,"  p.  157)  that  they  cultivate  rice,  cotton,  tobacco, 
maize,  ginger,  a  great  variety  of  esculent  roots  and  pumpkins,  the 
suear-cane,  and  opium.  Each  man's  clearing  is  marked  off  by  up- 
right stones,  and  they  have  various  agricultural  implements,  which 
are  probably  made  by  themselves,  as  they  have  the  art  of  working 
iron,  and  can  make  bells.  We  learn  further  of  the  Abors,  that 
their  tribes  form  confederated  states,  and  "  each  community  is 
governed  by  its  own  laws,  devised  and  administered  on  purely 
democratic  principles.  The  laws  are  made  by  the  people  collected 
together,  every  individual  having  an  equal  vote."  Notwith- 
standing their  independent  disposition,  absolute  obedience  is  given 
to  the  decisions  of  the  assembly  of  citizens,  even  where  it  concerns 
only  the  course  of  daily  labour.  In  fact,  thev  are  a  law-abiding 
people,  and  crimes  are  considered  as  public  pollutions  which 
require  to  be  atoned  for  by  a  public  sacrifice,  which  has  ultimately 
to  be  paid  for  by  the  guilty  pei-son  (Reclus,  "  Nouv.  Geog.  Univ.," 
Vol.  VIII,  p.  204;  "Evolution  of  Morality,"  Vol.  I,  p.  148). 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  281 

Finally,  so  far  from  the  Abors  living  only  in  scattered  dwellings, 
they  have  considerable  villages,  each  of  which  has  a  town  hall 
where  the  unmarried  men  pass  the  night.  These  facts  seem  to  me 
to  furnish  sufficient  evidence  of  the  existence  of  "cohesion  resulting 
from  the  ties  of  recognised  kinship,"  and  if,  as  Mr.  Gomuie  asserts, 
a  more  elaborate  description  of  the  Cyclopes  than  that  given  by 
Homer  is  to  be  obtained  from  what  is  known  of  the  Abors,  the 
former  must  have  been  somewhat  libelled  by  the  Greek  poet. 

So  much  for  the  modern  specimen  of  the  primitive  horde 
referred  to  by  Mr.  Gomme,  who  considers,  however,  that  the  Abors 
"  are  but  a  type  of  the  general  aboriginal  Indian  group."  In 
support  of  this  opinion  he  quotes  a  passage  from  Sir  Alfred  Lyall's 
"  Asiatic  Studies,"  which  refers  to  the  Bheels  as  a  "  simple 
aboriginal  horde."  This  passage,  Mr.  Gomme  thinks,  is  a  remark- 
able confirmation  of  his  own  conclusions.  There  are,  however, 
facts  connected  with  the  Bheels  and  other  aboriginal  Indian  peoples 
which  forbid  us  to  regard  them  as  reproducing  the  characteristics 
of  a  "  primitive  human  horde."  Notwithstanding  their  apparent 
lawlessness  and  their  old  predatory  habits,  the  Bheels  exhibit 
"  great  attachment  for  home  and  family,  kindness  towards  women, 
respect  for  their  elders,  and  an  unsophisticated  love  for  truth " 
(Rowney,  p.  37).  Their  simplicity  of  character  is  remarkable, 
and  when  confided  in,  they  are  the  most  trusty  of  servants.  More- 
over, the  Bheels  were  not  always  the  "  outlaws  "  their  present 
name  would  lead  us  to  believe.  Their  former  pre-eminence  is 
denoted  by  the  fact  that  on  the  crowning  of  a  Rajpoot  prince  a 
Bheel  marks  his  forehead  with  drops  of  blood  drawn  from  his 
thumb  and  his  great  toe,  and  thus  anoints  him  as  native,  and 
transmits  to  him  the  right  to  possess  the  country  (Reelus,  "  Nouv. 
Geog.  Univ.,"  Vol.  VIII,  p.  282). 

Mr.  Gomme  supposes  that  the  primitive  hordes  of  hunters  and 
fishers  were  uninfluenced  by  the  ties  of  kinship,  and  that  later  on 
migrating  hordes  were  enabled  successfully  to  contend  with  them, 
owing  to  their  being  organised  on  the  basis  of  kin.  An  indication 
that  "the  ties  of  kinship  had  already  influenced  human  thought" 
is  found  in  the  stated  fact  that  "  now,  for  the  first  time,  the  dead 
are  carefully  buried."  If,  however,  burial  of  the  dead  is  evidence 
of  the  recognition  of  kinship,  this  must  be  allowed  to  the  Bheels, 
who  bury  their  females  and  children,  although  the  males  are  burnt 
along  with  their  arms  and  cooking  utensils.  Funeral  rites  have, 
in  reality,  no  bearing  on*  the  question  of  kinship,  and  both  burial 
and  burning  are  in  use  among  the  peoples  of  India. 

I  might  criticise  Mr.  Gomme's  views  as  to  the  effect  of  migra- 
tions on  "the  development  of  tribal  society  based  upon  polyandry 
and  kinship  through  females"  (p.  131).  I  will  do  so,  however, 
only  by  pointing  out  that  polyandry  is  not,  as  a  rule,  due  to  a 
scarcity  of  women.  This  couid  be  established  by  many  facts.  The 
cause  of  polyandry  is  well  expressed  by  M.  Beclus  (op.  cit.t 
p.  204),  when  he  says  of  the  Dapla,  who  are  allied  to  the  Abors, 
that  "  like  their  neighbours  of  Tibet,  they  admit  all  forms  of 


282  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

marriage ;  both  polyandry,  iisual  among  the  poor,  and  polygyny 
practised  ordinarily  by  the  rich."  I  would  mention,  also,  that  true 
polyandry  is  associated  with  kinship  through  males,  and  not  with 
female  kinship. 

In  conclusion,  it  appears  to  ine  that  Mr.  Gomme  has  signally 
failed  in  his  attempt  to  establish  the  existence  of  Dr.  McLennan's 
primitive  group  or  horde.  His  arguments  tend  rather  to  support 
the  view  which  he  condemns,  that  the  "  family  "  formed  the  basis 
of  the  earliest  human  groups,  which  consisted  of  a  number  of 
individuals,  or  of  family  units,  bound  together  by  the  ties  of 
kinship. 

C.  STANILAND  WAKE. 

Welton, 

18th  November,  1887. 


SKETCH  of  ANIWA  GRAMMAR. 
By  SIDNEY  H.  RAT. 

ANIWA  is  a  low  coral  island  in  the  south  of  the  New  Hebrides 
group.  It  lies  10  miles  north-east  of  Tanna,  and  50  miles  north 
of  Aneiteum,  in  South  latitude  19°  15',  and  East  longitude  169°  40'. 
The  population  is  rapidly  decreasing,  and  in  1874  was  only  194. 

Though  the  natives  of  Aniwa  are  in  general  appearance  and 
customs  almost  identical  with  the  Melanesian  tribes  near  them, 
their  language  is  akin  to  the  dialects  of  Eastern  Polynesia,  and 
more  especially  resembles  the  Tongan  and  Samoan.  A  closely 
allied  language  is  spoken  on  the  island  of  Fotuna,  about  30 
miles  to  the  east  of  Aniwa.  Dr.  Steel  in  his  work  on  the  New 
Hebrides,1  states  that  "  the  natives  of  the  two  islands  can  under- 
stand each  other.  Many  of  the  natives  of  Aniwa  are  bilingual,  as 
the  island  is  so  near  Tanna  on  the  one  side  and  Eromanga  on  the 
other."  A  similar  dialect  is  also  found  in  the  district  of  Mele,  in 
Fate  or  Sandwich  Island,  about  100  miles  to  the  north. 

This  sketch  is  drawn  up  from  translations  of  the  Gospel  of  St. 
John,  and  some  of  the  Epistles,2  made  by  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Paton,  of 
the  New  South  Wales  Presbyterian  Church,  who  has  resided  on 
the  island  since  1866. 

I. — Alphabet. 

1.  Vowels,  a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  sounded  as  in  Italian. 

2.  Diphthongs,  ou,  ow,  au,  as  in  loud;  ei,  ai,  y,  as  in  my;  oi,  oy, 
as  in  boy. 

3.  Consonants,   Jc,  c,    g ;  t,  tsh,  j ;  p,  f,  v,  w ;  s ;  r,  I,  m,  n,  mn. 
The  consonants  are  sounded  as  in  English,  with  the  exception  of 
of  c  and  g,  which  have  the  same  sound  as  in  Aneiteum,  and  are 
pronounced  as  g  in  go ;  and  ng  in  sing. 

1  "  The  New  Hebrides,"  by  Robert  Steel,  D.D.,  London,  1880. 

2  Ta  fasao  erefia  ma  tapu  a  hepe  neisereace  Mathius,  Markus,   loanes.      I  ta 
fasao  Aniwa,  Neu  Hebritis.     ITakowia  Melburni  Vektoria,  1877-1882. 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  283 

4.  The  i  of  Eastern  Polynesia  is  often  represented  by  tsh, 
especially  before  i.  The  I  is  little  used,  its  place  being  taken 
by  r. 

II. — Article. 

1.  The  definite  article  is  ta,  in  the  plural  a  ;  ta  fare,  the  house  ; 
a  fare,  the  houses;  tafatu,  the  stone;  a  fatu,  stones.     Ta  is  some- 
times shortened  to  tu,  and  a  to  u,  and  ta  is  disguised  in  the  form 
to  before  u  ;  tumtagi,  the  wind  (Samoan  matagi)  ;  umrama,  months 
(Samoan,  malama)  •  towa,  the  rain ;   (Samoan  ua).    Ta  also  appears 
as  te   and   £i ;    teriki,   the  chief ;    (Samoan  ali'i)  ;    fo'o/2,   the   fire ; 
(Samoan  aft). 

2.  Many  nouns  commence  with  the  syllable  no,  which  appears 
to  be  a  kind  of  article.     It  is  probably  due  to  the  influence  of 
neighbouring  Melanesian  dialects,  where  na  is  the  common  demon- 
strative article.     No  is  used  with  ta  and  a ;  ta  nontariki,  the  son ; 
(Samoan  atali'i) ;  a  nontariki,  sons ;  nontariga,  the  ear;  anontariga, 
ears  (Samoan  taliga). 

3.  The  numeral   tasi,  one,  is  used  as  an  indefinite  article :    tasi 
agelo,  an  angel. 

III. — Nouns. 

1.  In  the  Melanesian  languages  nouns  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes.     The  first  class  takes  a  suffixed  possessive  pronoun,  and 
the  second  expresses  possession  by  the  use  of  another  word.  Aniwa 
differs  from  other  Polynesian  dialects  in  having  a  few  words  of  the 
first  class.     These  denote  relationship  and  parts  of  the  body,  and 
also  include  the  nonn  tsha,  a  thing  belonging;  and  the  noun-pre- 
position nia.     Examples  are  :   tamanome,  our  father ;  aroto-wa,  your 
hearts  ;  tshaku,  my  thing ;  niau,  of  me  ;  avaiore,  their  feet. 

2.  Number  is  indicated  by  the  numerals  or  articles;  ta  nontariki, 
the  son  ;  ruanteriki,  two  sons  ;  anontariki,  sons. 

3.  The  nominative  precedes,  the  accusative  follows  the   verb  ; 
teriki  nokomy,  the  chief  is  coming  ;  tamanoiua  nibisa,  your  father 
rejoiced  ;  akoi  nikowna  avou,  thou  sentest  me ;  acime  keiro  tamari, 
we  know  the  truth. 

4.  A  few  nouns  have  a  prefix  foi ;  e.g  ,  foimata,  eyes ;  foirakou, 
tree.     This  is  probably  the  Tongan/oi,  as  infoiufi,  a  yam ;  foimanu, 
a  bird's  egg,  and  signifies  a  mass  or  ball. 

IV. — Pronouns. 

1.  Personal. 

Singular.    1.  avou  [avau~\  ;  2.  akoi  [afcoe]  ;  3.  aia. 

Duall.  Inclusive  acitawa  [ketaua'};  exclusive acimawa [akimaua~]  ; 
2.  akorua  [korua]  ;  3.  aicrawa  [kirua~\. 

Trial  1.  Inclusive  [apekitatou~\  ;  exclusive  acimatou ;  [kitatou]  ; 
2.  acoutou  \_aipe  koutou]  •  3.  acratou  \_aipe~]. 

Plural  1.  Inclusive  acitia  \_akitea]  ;    exclusive  acime    [_akimea~\ 
2.  acowa  [alcoutou~\  ;  3.  acre  [altirea~\. 


284  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

The  forms  in  brackets  are  those  given  in  a  short  vocabulary  by 
the  Rev.  G.  Turner.1 

The  same  form  is  used  both  before  and  after  the  verb.  After 
the  preposition  ia,  the  word  te  is  introduced,  as  in  most  Polynesian 
dialects,  and  we  thus  have  the  forms :  iatavou,  to  me ;  iatakoi,  to 
thee  ;  iateia,  to  him  ;  iatakai  ?  to  whom  ? 

In  the  plural,  te  does  not  appear.  Taha  ata  neimna  iatakoi  ? 
what  he  did  to  thee  ?  Avon  nakatucua  iacowa,  I  have  told  to  you. 

2.  Possessive. 

A  suffixed  possessive  pronoun  appears  in  use  with  the  word  tsha, 
which  is  used  as  a  possessive,  also  with  the  preposition  nia,  and 
in  the  plural  with  a  few  other  words. 

Singular  1.  -ku;  2. -u ;  3.  na.  Dual  1.  Inclusive ;  exclu- 
sive -omawa  ;  2.  -orua;  3.  -rawa. 

Plural  1.  Inclusive  -owe;  exclusive  -oteia  •  2.  -owa;  3.  -ore. 

Examples  :  tshaku,  my  thing  ;  niau,  of  thee  ;  tshome,  our  thing  ; 
tamanoteia,  our  father ;  arotowa,  your  hearts  ;  avaiore,  their  feet. 

3.  Interrogative. 

The  interrogative  pronouns  are  Akai  ?  who  ?  and  Taha  ?  what  ? 
Akoi  akai  ?  thou  (art)  who  ?  Akai  acowa  fatshigeia  ?  whom  ye 
seek  ?  Taha  aia  neimna  iatakoi  ?  what  he  did  to  thee?  Taha  akoi 
kofakow'a  ?  what  thou  askest  ? 

4.  Demonstrative  and  Indefinite. 

Tenei,  this;  tera,  that;  anera,  those  things;  taha,  that;  tasi, 
one  ;  sece,  another ;  faru,  some,  certain ;  tagatotshi,  all  men. 

Tenei  ta  fasao  komari,  this  the  saying  (is)  true ;  Taha  nopogi 
nokomy,  that  time  is  coming ;  Ma  anera  acime  vere,  for  those 
(things)  we  work ;  Tasi  eipesia  nohua,  ma  sece  toria  fakatavuria 
nohua,  one  scatters  seed,  and  another  gathers  and  saves  up  the 
fruit ;  Faru  neitucua,  some  said. 

5.  No  reflexive  or  reciprocal  pronouns  appear. 

Thou  lovest  thyself,  is  translated,  akoi  acitiafakarafia  akoi,  thou 
lovest  thee ;  We  love  one  another,  is  acitia  acitiafakarafia  tasi  ma 
sece  o  acitiotshi,  we  love  one  and  another  of  us  all.  The  adverb 
ana.  is  sometimes  suffixed  to  the  pronoun.  Ta  nontariki  aiana 
setomatua  vere,  the  son  himself  (lit.  he  only)  is  not  able  to  work. 

V . — Possessive . 

].  The  noun  tsha,  a  thing  belonging,  is  used  as  a  possessive 
pronoun.  .  With  a  suffixed  pronoun  it  takes  the  following  forms  : 

Singular  1.  tshaku;  2.  tshou  •   3.  tshana. 

Dual  1.  Inclusive ;  exclusive  tshamawa ;  2.  tshorua  ; 

3.  tsharawa. 

Trial  1.  Inclusive ;  exclusive ;  2. ;  3.  tsharatou. 

Plural  1.  Inclusive  tshote;  exclusive  tshome;  2.  tshowa;  3. 
t share. 

1  "Nineteen  Tears  in  Polynesia,"  by  Rev.  G-.  Turner,  London,  1861.  The 
pronouns  of  Mele  as  given  by  the  same  authority  are  : — Singular  1.  acau  ;  '2. 
akoe  •  3.  ia.  Dual  1.  tana,  maua ;  2.  korua ;  3.  raua.  Plural  1.  tatou, 
matou  ;  2.  koutou  ;  3.  latou. 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  285 

Examples  :  Tshaku  konouri,  my  flesh ;  Tsliou  fare,  thy  house  ; 
Tshana  roto,  his  heart ;  Tshamawa  nuntama,  of  us  two  the  son ; 
Tshorua  nuntama,  of  you  two  the  son  ;  Tsharawa  nokave,  of  them  two 
the  brother ;  Avai  tsharatou,  the  legs  of  them  three  ;  Tshote  nele, 
of  you  and  me  the  friend  ;  Tshome  norima,  of  him  and  me  the 
hands  ;  Tshowa  kabisa,  your  joy  ;  tshare  weina,  their  wine. 

2.  The  noun-preposition  nia,  is  used  in  a  similar  way.  See  IX,  3. 

3.  Tsha  is  found  in  use  with  nouns.     Ta  fare  tsha  Onesiforus,  the 
house  the  property  of  Onesiforus ;  Avere  tsha,  notshino,  works  belong- 
ing to  the  body. 

VI. — Adjectives. 

1.  A  few  simple  adjectives  are  found:  sore,  great;  sisi,  small; 
fou,  small  (Samoan  fou)  ;  fonu,  full ;  pouri,  dai*k  (Samoan  pouli)  ; 
ma,  pure  (Samoan  ma)  ;  sape,  crippled  (Samoan  sape). 

2.  The  prefixes  of   condition,  ma  and  ta,  seem  to  occur  in  the 
words  mero,  withered  (Samoan  malo,  hard)  ;  mtacu,  afraid  (Samoan 
mata'u)  ;  ma/a,   heavy;  mukaligi,  cold   (Samoan  ma'aligi)  ;  taru- 
weak,  slow  ;  tara,  tame  (Samoan  tola,  untied). 

3.  Reduplicated  forms  appear :  totonu,  straight ;  onraoura,  purple 
(Samoan  ulaula). 

4.  Adjectives  follow  their  nouns,  and  are  often  used  with  the 
verbal  particles  :  noreo  polo,  a  voice  loud :  avere  sore,  works  great ; 
tatane  nimace,  the  man  (that  was)   sick  ;  tagata  komate,  men  (that 
are)  dead. 

5.  Comparison  is  made  by  the  word  Jcage  following  the  adjective  : 
ane  isa  sore  kage,  a  worse  thing ;    (lit.  a  thing  bad  great  above)  ; 
Aid,  sore  Jcage  avou,  he  is  greater  than  I. 

6.  Demonstrative  and  indefinite  adjectives  are :    nei,  this ;  ra, 
that ;  tasi,  one ;  jimra  tasi,  not  one,  no,  none ;  faru,  some,  iotshi, 
all ;  toru,  few;  nalupai,  many. 

VII.— Verbs. 

1.  Any  word  may  be  used  as  a  verb,  with  or  without  a  verbal 
particle.     Amori  Itoma  kdtenei,  worship  pure  this ;    avou  tufwa,  I 
give ;  aia  kotufwa,  he  gives.     The  particles  have  no  distinction  of 
person  or  number.     A  distinctly  verbal  character  is  given  to  a 
word  by  the  particle  Tco   (the  Polynesian  kua)   which  appears  to 
have  no  tense  signification  but  is  most   frequently    used  in   the 
present. 

2.  Mood.     A  participle  is  formed  by  noko :  avou  nimy  nokobaptiso 
i  tavai;   I  came  baptizing  with  water;  avou  neicitia  ta  nokano  noko- 
fanifo  ia  ta  ragi,  I  saw  the  spirit  descending  from  Heaven  ;  ta  mana 
nokomouri,  the  father  living. 

The  infinitive  is  expressed  by  kei :  tomatua  keifakairo,  able  to 
teach  ;  avou  nakamo  ane  nalupai  keitucua,  I  had  things  many  to 
say.  Imperatives.  The  simple  verb  with  or  without  ko  shows  the 
imperative :  sara  ma  kowcitia,  search  and  look.  "  Must  "  and 
"  ought "  are  denoted  by  erefa,  good,  at  the  beginning  of  the 

VOL.  XVII.  U 


286  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

sentence  :  erefia  aia  komate,  lie  ought  'to  die,  (lit.  good  he  dies)  ; 
erefia  acowa  kofarere  foce,  ye  must  be  bom  again  (lit.  good  ye  are 
born  again.)  Prohibition  is  expressed  by  the  verb  natshicina,  leave, 
and  desire  by  acitiafakarafia,  to  desire,  love ;  natshicina  aia,  leave 
her ;  natshicina  miaou,  leave  fearing,  do  not  fear ;  acime  acitia- 
fakarafia kowcitia  aia,  we  desire  (to)  see  him. 

The  subjunctive  or  conditional  is  introduced  by  the  conjunction 
pe,  if  or  that.  The  particle  muka  seems  also  to  mark  the  con- 
ditional. Atua  nikowna  tshana  nontariki  pe  acitia  mukoamo  anea 
mouri,  God  sent  his  son  that  we  might  have  life;  pe  acitia  mukeiro, 
that  we  may  know  ;  pe  acre  mukafeke,  that  they  may  depart. 
"  Would  "  and  "  should  "  are  expressed  by  nukow  :  Akoi  nukownogia 
aia,  thou  wouldst  ask  him  ;  aia  nukowtufwa,  he  would  give. 

Power  to  do  ar.  action  is  shown  by  the  word  tomatua,  power, 
able :  inability  by  taru,  weak,  unable.  Akai  tomatua  fakarogona  ra  ? 
Who  (has)  power  to  hear  that  ?  aia  tomatua  keipurutshia  anera,  he 
is  able  to  keep  thing  that ;  acre  kotaru  torotshia  my  kowpega,  they 
are  not  able  to  draw  hither  the  net ;  aia  kotaru  vere  hepra,  he  is 
unable  to  work  like  that. 

3.  Tense.     The  particles  denoting  tense  are  :  ei,  present  (?)  ;  nei 
or  ni,  past;  naka,  perfect;  ka,  future.     Akuli  eiro,  dogs  know;  tasi 
eipesia,  one  scatters  ;  aia  neitufwa,  he  gave ;  aia  neitucua,  he  said  ; 
aia  nimy,  he  came ;  aia  nifeke,  he  departed  ;  avou  nakacitia,  I  have 
seen  ;  avou  nakafakoko,  I  have  fought ;  acowa  kasara  avou,  ye  shall 
seek  me ;  avou  katufwa,  I  shall  give. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  ei  is  a  present  particle,  most  verbs  have  ko 
only :  avou  koutucua,  I  say ;  aia  komy,  he  comes.  The  immediate 
future  is  sometimes  expressed  by  noko  :  Wamuri  avou  tasi  nokomy, 
after  me  one  is  coming. 

4.  The  causative  prefix  faka  is  seen  in  fakairo,  to  make  know, 
teach ;   fakatonusia,    to   make   straight,  stretch ;   fakariake,  make 
plain,  shew  ;  and  many  others.     A  shorter  form  fa  is  also  found  : 
fakeina,  make  eat,  feed. 

5.  The  terminations  a,  fia,  da,  ia,  na,  gia,  ria,  sia,  tia,  tshia  are 
found  suffixed  to  verbs.     In  Samoan  and  Tongan  these  denote  the 
passive  voice,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  have  the  same  use  in 
Aniwa.      "  One  bone  of    him  was  not  broken  "  is  translated  tasi 
newi  tshana  setoutshia ;  but  examples  like  akoi  nitaka,  thou  girdedst 
thyself,  and  tasi  foce  katakaia  akoi,  another  shall  gird  thee,  seem  to 
show  that  the  terminations  are  sometimes  equivalent  to  the  Mela- 
nesian  transitive  suffixes. 

6.  The  interrogative  is  indicated  by  -mo,  or,  at  the  end  of  the 
sentence.     Akoi  tasi  teriki  mo  ?     Art  thou  a  chief  ? 

7.  The  negative  is  se,  used  with  all  the  particles  :   Avou  sekoma, 
1  am  not  ashamed ;    senokoamo  ane  isa,  not  having  a  thing  bad ; 
acowa  sekacitia  avou,  ye  shall  not  see  me. 

8.  The  verb   "  to  be "  is  expressed  by  the  particles.     Tenei  ko 
acitiafakarafia,  this  is  love. 

9.  The  verb  my,  mai,  come,  has  a  plural  romy.      Aia  komy,  he 
comes  ;  acre  niromy,  they  came. 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  287 


VLSI.— Adverbs. 

1.  Directive.     Kace,  up;  ifo,  down;    mai,  my,  hither;  fano,  ace, 
aJce,  thither ;  efuafo,  forth. 

2.  Interrogative.     Mo,  at  end  of  a  sentence  in  asking  a  question : 
konapecua  ?  how  ?  wehe  ?  where  ?  whither  ?  whence  ?  tiaha  ?  why  ? 
enaia  ?  when  ? 

3.  Time.     Milow,  miloiua,  now,  immediately ;    ituai  of  old,  long 
ago  ;  face,  again  ;  nopogi  ma  nopogi,  days  and  days,  always ;  tou  ma 
tou,  years  and  years,  for  ever ;  nopogi  toru,  a  few  days  ;  mokagi, 
before  ;  fakaliJci,  together  ;  fakosore,  many  times  ;  fakasisi,  a  little 
time ;  iranei,  to-day  ;  iratou,  to-morrow. 

4.  Place.     Tai,  here  ;  icunei,  here  ;  watai,- on  the  shore;  wamuri, 
behind ;  watafa,  outside. 

5.  Manner.     An  a,  only,  entirely.     Ad  jectives  are  used  as  adverbs 
of  manner.     Avon  nibisa  sore,  I  rejoiced  greatly ;  akoi  itnna  erefia, 
thou  doest  well. 

IX. — Prepositions. 

1.  Simple.     0,  a,  of  ;  e,  i,  in,  at ;  i,  ia,  to;   la,  through. 

2.  Many  prepositions  are  compounded  of  a  noun  and  a  simple 
preposition.      Iluga,  above,  on  the  top  ;  iraro,  iroro,  at  the  bottom, 
under,  below ;   iroto,  in  the  heart,  inside ;  itata,  at  the  side,  near ; 
emoa,  in  the  front,  before. 

3.  The  preposition  nia,  of,  belonging  to,  is  a  noun  and  takes  the 
suffixed  pronouns. 

Singular.     1.  Niaku ;  2.  niau ;  3.  niana  • 

Dual."  1.  Inclusive ;  exclusive ;  2. ;  3.  niarowa. 

Plural.     1.  Inclusive :  exclusive  ;  2. ;  3.  niare. 


X. — Conjunctions. 

Ma,  and,  for ;  mo,  or ;  Jcaia,  but,  how  ;  pe,  if,  that ;  hepe,  so,  like, 
as,  while ;  ianei,  for  the  thing  this,  because ;  ianera,  for  the  thing 
that,  therefore  ;  ana,  also. 

XI. — Numerals. 

1.  Cardinal.      Tasi,  one  ;  rua,  two  ;  toru,  three  ;  fa,  four ;  rima, 
five ;    onot  six ;   fitu,  seven ;  varu,  eight ;    ivas  nine,  tagafulu,  ten. 
A  set  of  numerals  adopted  from  the  English  is  in  use  in  trans- 
lations.     Wun,  tu,  thri,  for,  faiv,  seks,  seven,  et,  nain,  ten,  twelv, 
huntret,  thousant.     The  verbal  particle  e  is  used  with  the  numerals. 

2.  The    causative  faka   forms   the    ordinals,  fakarua,   second; 
fakatoi-u,  third  ;  once  is  tasi. 

3.  Distributives  are  expressed  with  a  conjunction :  Tasi  ma  tasi, 
one  by  one. 

4.  Multiplicatives  are  formed  with  tshici;  tshicifitu,  seven  times; 
tsltici  efia  ?   how  many  times  ? 

U  2 


88  Anthropological  Miscdlant 

XII. — Exclamations. 
Keini  !  Iceine  !  yea !     Jimra !  nay  !     Kawe ! 

XIII.  Specimens. 


288  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

woe ! 

Specimens. 

Of  the  following  No.  1  is  the  Fotuna  Paternoster,  as  given  in 
Dr.  Steel's  "  New  Hebrides,"  and  No.  2  is  the  same  in  Aniwa. 
They  are  given,  as  showing  the  great  similarity  of  the  two 
dialects. 

1.  Fotuna  Paternoster. 

Tamanomy  iragi.  Kitapu  tiau  igoa.  Kimai  tiau  avaka  tagata. 
Kipenei  tiau  finagaro  i  takere  nei  feipei  iragi  Tufa  mai  akai  tan 
rune  y  kimy  iranei.  Tauki  iomy  kauligine  sa  feipe  akimy  natauaki 
kaulagine  sa  o  faruki  y  kimy.  Koina  arafy  kimy  ki  kauligine 
eresy.  Kapena  mauri  kimy  i  tasa.  Niau  tavaka  tagata  ma 
tatamotau  ma  teatata  y  napugi  ma  napugi.  Emen. 

2.  Aniwa  Paternoster. 

Tamanome  tiragi.  Tshou  neigo  tapu.  Tshou  tavaka  komy. 
Tshou  afasas  erefia  acre  ia  fanua  wararonei  fakarogona  hepe  i  tiragi. 
Tufwa  acime  iranei  tshome  akai.  Towaki  nori  maganisa  tshome ; 
hepe  acime  towaki  nori  o  maganisa  o  tagata  acime.  Natshicina 
acime  ia  teretu  o  maganisa,  kaia  kapare  acime  ia  ane  isa  iotshi.  Ma 
tshou  tavaka,  ma  tomatua,  ma  nokabisa,  atou  ma  tou.  Emen. 

3.  Aniwa.     John  XXI,  9-19.     From  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Paton's 
translation. 

9.  Milowa  acre  niromy  ia  fanua,  acre  neicitia  tiafi  o  tafia  marara 
iai,  ma  eika  neinage  iluga  aia,  ma  bret. 

10.  lesu  neitucua  iacre,  Amy  faru  foce   o  eika    acowa  milow 
niamo. 

11.  Saimona  Pitms  nifano  iateia,  ma  nitorotsh  iamy  takowpega 
ia  fanua,  nifonu  o  eika  sore,  wun  huntret,  ma  fef te-thri ;  ma  acre 
nalupai  su  ma  sefasia  takowpega. 

12.  lesu  neitucua  iacre,  koromy   ma   kakeina  aia  touate.      Ma 
jimra  tasi  o  niana  tagata  aia  nifakairo  tomatua    nifakowia    aia. 
Akai  akoi  ?  acre  neiro  aia  ta  Teriki  sore. 

13.  lesu  nimy,  ma  niamo  bret,  ma  neitufwa  iacre,  ma  eika  foce. 

14.  Tenei   fakatoru   lesu   nifakariake   aia   ia   niana   tagata  aia 
nifakairo,  wamuri  aia  nimasike  ia  tagata  nimate. 

15.  Wamuri  acre  nikeinace,  Jesu  neitucua  ia  Saimona  Pitrus, 
Saimona,  nontariki  o  lona,  akoi  acitiafakarafia  avou  sore  kage  acre 
ra,  mo  ?     Aia  neitucua  iateia,  Keine  Teriki  sore ;  akoi  keiro  avon 
acitiafakarafia  akoi,  Aia  neitucua  iateia,  Fakeina  tshaku  alam. 

16.  Aia  neitucua  foce  fakarua,  Saimona,  nontariki  o  lona,  akoi 
acitiafakarafia  avou,  mo  ?     Aia  neitucua  iateia,  Keini  Terike  sore  ; 
akoi   keiro   pe   avou   acitiafakarafia   akoi.       Aia   neitucua    iateia, 
Fakeina  tshaku  asip. 

17.  Aia  neitucua  iateia    fakatoru,    Saimona,   nontariki    o  lona. 
Akoi  acitiafakarafia  avou,  mo  ?     Aroto  o  Pitrus  nimy  sore  wamuri 


Anthropological  Miscellanea.  289 

aia  neitacua  fakatoru  iateia,  Akoi  acitiafakarafia  avou  ?  Ma  aia 
neitucua  iateia,  Teriki  sore,  akoi  keiro  ane  iotshi ;  akoi  keiro  pe 
avou  acitia  fakarafia  akoi.  lesu  neitucua  iateia,  Fakeina  ishaku  asip. 

18.  Tamari,    tamari,    avou    koutucua    iatakoi,    Nopogi   ra   akoi 
tasisi,  akoi  nitaka  ma  nitakaro  ia  none    akoi  acitiafakarafia,  kai 
taha  nopogi  akoi  tatane  sore,  akoi  kafakatonusia  tshou  norima,  ma 
tasi  foce  katakaia  akoi,  ma  takoia  akoi  i  none  akoi  secitiafakarafia. 

19.  Tenei  aia  neitucua,  keifakairo  ta  mate  aia  maganerefia  ia 
Atua  iateia.      Wamuri  aia  nifasao  ra  iateia,  aia  neitucua  iateia, 
Komy  wamuri  avou. 

RACIAL  PHOTOGRAPHS  FROM  THE  EGYPTIAN  MONUMENTS. — A  series 
of  190  photographs  of  the  various  races  conquered  or  visited  by 
the  Egyptians,  was  taken  from  the  monuments  by  Mr.  Flinders 
Petrie  in  1887,  with  the  assistance  of  a  grant  from  the  British 
Association.  It  is  now  available  for  students  at  the  cost  price  of 
printing  copies.  Applications  should  be  made  for  prints  to  Mr. 
Browning  Hogg,  75,  High-street,  Bromley,  Kent.  If  a  selection 
is  wanted,  a  set  will  be  sent,  any  of  which  can  be  detached  from  the 
titled  sheets  by  the  purchaser,  at  2*.  3d.  per  dozen  ;  those  not 
required  should  be  at  once  returned  in  the  sheets  to  Mr.  Hogg  with 
the  remittance  for  those  kept.  If  a  whole  set  is  wanted,  it  will  be 
sent  pasted  on  sheets  of  parchment  paper,  with  printed  titles,  on 
receipt  of  45s.,  postage  included.  With  each  whole  set,  a  copy  of 
Mr.  Petrie's  report,  and  Mr.  Tomkins'  paper  on  the  geographical 
identifications,  will  be  sent  if  requested,  so  far  as  the  number  of 
copies  allowed  by  the  British  Association  will  permit. 

The  photographs  are  mainly  from  plaster  casts,  and  are  therefore 
far  clearer  than  if  directly  from  the  stone.  Each  has  the  ancient 
name  from  the  hieroglyphs,  and  the  modern  equivalent,  so  far  as 
the  names  can  be  identified.  The  situation  of  each  sculpture  is 
stated  in  the  report.  All  are  of  the  XlXth  dynasty,  and  at  Thebes, 
unless  otherwise  stated  in  the  titles.  Where  an  interrogation  is 
put,  either  the  ancient  name  is  not  expressly  stated,  but  is  inferred 
from  similar  sculptures,  or  else  the  modern  name  is  not  a  certain 
identification.  Where  there  are  various  theories  on  the  identifica- 
tions, the  least  unlikely  has  been  adopted  without  any  wish  to 
assert  its  probable  truth.  The  order  of  arrangement  is  such  as  to 
bring  together  the  various  peoples  who  have  resemblances  worthy 
of  notice,  such  as  the  Punites  and  Philistines  (Poeni)  ;  the 
Tahennu,  Hanebu,  and  Thnirsha  ;  the  Derdeni  and  Amorites,  &c., 
subject  of  course  to  placing  those  of  one  name  together. 

THE  RACES  OF  INDIA. — The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter 
by  Sir  George  Campbell,  K. C.S.I.,  D.C.L.,  which  appeared  in  the 
"  Times"  of  January  24th,  1888  :— 

"  It  is  certainly  the  case  that  Bengalees  have  not  served  in  the 
army  and  have  the  credit  of  being  un warlike.  On  the  other  hand 
they  have  shown  a  decided  receptivity  not  only  for  English  educa- 
tion but  for  European  social  ideas ;  they  are  often  physically 


290  Anthropological  Miscellanea. 

robust,  and  when  I  introduced  gymnastic  training  in  the  schools 
they  really  exhibited  great  forwardness  and  aptness.  Per  contra, 
it  must  be  said  that  they  show  great  backwardness  in  filling  our 
schools  of  engineering,  and  that  they  seem  wanting  in  mercantile 
energy.  I  see  the  chairman  of  the  East  India  Railway,  referring 
to  his  rivals  on  the  other  side  of  India,  complains  that  the  people 
of  Bombay  are  ten  times  as  eneigetic  as  those  of  Calcutta.  In 
manufactures  and  trade  the  Bombay  natives  certainly  are  very 
much  in  advance,  but  I  suspect  this  in  a  great  degree  due  to  the 
presence  of  certain  very  energetic  mercantile  classes — Parsees  and 
Marwarees — rather  than  to  a  very  general  superiority  of  the 
people  of  the  Bombay  Presidency. 

At  any  rate,  I  must  say  that  Sir  Lepel  Griffin's  address  to  the 
people  of  Gwalior,  conti*asting  unfavourably  the  Bengalees  with 
"  you  Mahrattas,"  was  curiously  out  of  place.  I  have  administered 
a  Mahratta  country  in  the  Central  Proyinces,  and  taken  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  to  find  out  what  is  a  Mahratfca.  Using  "  Mahratta